SVP plans election start in ZSC Arena

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The puck is currently spinning for the SVP. Rising asylum and immigration figures or the neutrality debate provide an impulse. According to the latest SRG election barometer, the SVP rose 1 percentage point to 26.6 percent, continuing to secure the top spot.

It is therefore no wonder that the SVP is planning its big start for the National and State elections in the fall, where the puck usually runs: at the home stadium of the ZSC Lions, the Swiss Life Arena in Zurich.

“We are tough too”

“This time we will not start the election on a green field, but in the stadium,” says campaign manager Marcel Dettling (42). The party is going well too. “Ice hockey is a team sport and the players are tough – like us from the SVP,” says the Schwyz National Council with a laugh.

And of course the party has the best contacts with the ZSC environment. Club President Walter Frey (79) was himself a former member of the SVP National Council, as was former Club Vice President Peter Spuhler (64). And Swiss Life President Rolf Dörig (65) recently joined the SVP.

“To where we still have potential”

Dettling gives another reason why the election festival should take place in Zurich. “We are going into the city – and therefore to where we still have potential.” At the event they want to show the breadth of the SVP as a people’s party. The slogan is: “We are the People’s Party!”

The choice of location for the festival also has strategic reasons. In the cities, the SVP lags behind the left-green camp. The party wants to change that.

So many visitors like never before

The stadium can accommodate no less than 12,000 visitors. But there shouldn’t be that many. “I expect 2,000 to 3,000 participants,” says Dettling. “And if more SVP supporters want to come, no problem, we have room.”

Either way, more SVP supporters will gather than at previous festivals, where up to 1,000 people gathered. So there must be a record number of participants.

The start of the elections scheduled for August 26 should be a “big family party with kids and cones,” says de Schwyzer. Many prominent politicians were also invited – including current SVP federal councilors Albert Rösti (55) and Guy Parmelin (63) and former SVP magistrates such as Christoph Blocher (82), Ueli Maurer (72) and Adolf Ogi (80).

Are riots imminent again?

Isn’t Dettling afraid that an SVP festival in Zurich could lead to protests? Or even riots like in 2007 on the Bundesplatz in Bern, when left-wing autonomists stormed an SVP meeting and there was then talk of the “disgrace of Bern”?

“No,” says Dettling firmly. “We will make sure that no one enters the stadium who is not authorized to enter,” de Schwyzer said. And outside the stadium, the police have enough experience to ensure security and protect the SVP family from any chaotic crowd.

“The SVP will come together peacefully in Zurich and head full steam ahead into the final weeks of the election campaign,” Dettling is convinced.

Source:Blick