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The FDP government adviser, Baschi Dürr, must fear his re-election.
Photo: Kostas Maros
The second round of the elections to the governing council will take place this Sunday in the canton of Basel-Stadt. Three of the seven executive and presidium positions must be filled. The red-green majority, existing since 2005, is on the brink.
The cards have been reshuffled for the second vote. A total of five candidates from the SP, FDP, LDP, GLP and Alianza Verde parties represent the three seats that are still open.
Financial Director Tanja Soland (SP) had already been elected in the first ballot on October 25 with an excellent result. They were followed by Director of Health Lukas Engelberger (CVP), Director of Education Conradin Cramer (LDP) and the new member of the National Council, Beat Jans (SP).
The president of the government, Elisabeth Ackermann (Greens), who has held the position since 2017, had withdrawn from the race in ninth position after her poor performance, which is why the SP and the Green Alliance had to present a substitute candidate in a emergency procedure. The red-green majority, which has existed since 2005, will now be defended by left-wing politician Heidi Mück, 56, of green alliance partner BastA!
With her on the red-green ticket is SP’s Grand Councilor, Kaspar Sutter. He came sixth on the first vote, putting himself in a good starting position.
LPG candidate could be dangerous for FDP government councilor Dürr
For the bourgeoisie, the newcomer Stephanie Eymann (PLD) joins the contest as a candidate for the struggle: the absolute majority was lost in the first vote by only 79 votes.
Current Justice and Security Director Baschi Dürr (FDP), who came in seventh in the first vote, and GLP councilor Esther Keller also remained in contention. In the first vote he was just 297 votes behind Dürr.
The bourgeois parties hope to regain the majority they lost 15 years ago in the Basel government. However, at the same time, they are also threatened with the election of the FDP government adviser, Dürr, who has held the post since 2013.
The second vote could lead to three scenarios: if the bourgeois duo with Eymann and Dürr manage the elections, the bourgeois parties FDP, LDP and CVP would regain their majority in the government, which they lost in 2005. If Sutter and Mück are successful, they will stay with the majority red-green. If the GLP candidate Keller were elected, there would be a political stalemate in the executive, similar to that in parliament.
Beat Jans is running for regional council
Stephanie Eymann and Esther Keller, who placed first and third in the first vote, are running again for regional council. But here too the cards for the second vote have been rearranged. Because not the newly established red-green candidate, Heidi Mück, is running for this position, but the new SP government adviser, Beat Jans, already elected.
The well-known environmental politician wants to rebuild the contents of the department immediately upon reaching the presidium. In particular, he wants to reassign the Office of Environment and Energy, which is currently part of the Department of Economic, Social and Environmental Affairs, to the Presidential Department. This with the aim of making climate protection a top priority and positioning Basel-Stadt as a pioneering canton in climate protection. (SDA)
