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The district president works in the red city hall of Basel. Image: shutterstock
Analysis
Arrogance of the Left: Why Basel Could Be the Only Great City Leaning to the Right
All major Swiss cities are ruled by the SP and the Greens. In Basel, however, a change of power is looming. How is that? The people of Basel have not tired of the recipes of the left. The reason is different.
In Bern, the left holds four out of five seats in the city government. The same in Geneva. In Lausanne, left-wing parties hold six of the seven executive power seats. In Zurich there are six out of nine. In the canton of Basel-Stadt, however, the bourgeoisie was able to obtain a majority in the second vote on November 29. The governing council could lean to the right.
Why is that? Why is the third largest Swiss city leaving? Are the people of Basel tired of leftist recipes? Tired of car parking lots giving way to bike lanes? That cooperative housing construction is subsidized and that taxes remain comparatively high so that the state can expand its services?
Higher taxes for high-income people
No. In municipal votes, the people of Basel sometimes make decisions even more leftist than the previous government wanted. For strict protection of tenants. To calm traffic. And high-income people, as the Young Socialists demanded, have had to pay more taxes for years, even though the state’s bill is jet black.
So what is happening in the canton of the city? If executive policy is not fundamentally questioned, what is the reason?
The dominant SP has grown arrogant. And with it the Greens. Both parties are making hair-raising mistakes. And the exponents of both parties believe that there is no need to fight for the support of those who have the right to vote. You can count on it, you can even demand it.
Act I of the tragedy: the regional council. Why was it created in 2009? Elmar Ledergerber impressed the people of Basel. The mayor of Zurich represented his city in a refined way and influenced national politics with his proposals. Someone like Ledergerber also wanted on the Rhine. Then Klaus Wowereit visited Basel. Wow, the Wowereit! The then mayor of Berlin made a great impression on the Constitutional Council. After his conference it was clear: Basel needs a presidential department.
The SP government councils preferred to occupy the departments where there are more decisions. They left the regional council to the Greens.
Overloaded by the regional council
Guy Morin was a fairly rigid representative. No national policy proposals emerged from him. With Elisabeth Ackermann it got even worse in 2017. The green politician left an uncomfortable impression on his appearances. And he managed to make a mess in one of his few records, culture. Several museums in Basel encountered financial and personal difficulties. Basel adds a lot to its reputation as a cultural city. Discontent with Ackermann grew.
Injured: District President Elisabeth Ackermann. Image: keystone
On October 25, he became part of the list of candidates. There are seven seats in the government of the city of Basel; Ackermann finished in ninth place. A debacle. The governing bodies of the SP and the Greens seemed astonished. For 16 years, the shift from right to left, its candidates had been chosen more or less in a package. The removal of an applicant from the list was not envisaged.
The Greens were clear that they had to leave Ackermann. But they had not prepared for this case. There was no substitute everywhere. Then Heidi Mück jumped into the gap. He belongs to the splinter Basta party (the strong Basel alternative) and is so far to the left that even the Social Democrats get dizzy.
Mück believes that nationalizing the Basel pharmaceutical industry could be considered. At least one part. Mück explains that the Department of Justice is not suitable for her because she has “a difficult relationship with police officers.” Mück signed a call to boycott Israel’s products.
The SP does not want to be left behind in shame. Governing council candidate Kaspar Sutter suggests that the presidential department should be updated with responsibility for environmental affairs, but only if party colleague Beat Jans becomes district president, otherwise not. The SP immediately tried to improve it, but local television had filmed Sutter while he was lost. We Social Democrats play with the government that suits us, and the other parties should see where they stay, that is the attitude of the official for a long time.
Approaching: Governing Council candidate Kaspar Sutter (SP). Image: keystone
Sutter has already announced which department he would like to take on himself if elected. This is completely unusual and shows just how presumptuous the Basler SP has become. Can commoners seize the opportunity?
Liberal Democrat attorney Stephanie Eymann narrowly missed the jump to government on the first ballot. It would be a surprise if he didn’t make it now. Liberal Baschi Dürr, Acting Director of Justice and Security, however, is concerned about his re-election. He is considered quite aloof and has long earned a reputation for observing when there are problems in his department.
The canton of the city lacks dynamism
Esther Keller could benefit from the green liberals. Even in the cantonal parliament, the LPG decides whether the left or the right will prevail. Keller could soon fill this role on the governing council.
The former journalist and now freelance communicator clashes with the claim that Basel and its government lack dynamism. The canton of the city is not doing it wrong. Novartis and Roche fill the treasury with their tax contributions; In 2019 it achieved a colossal surplus of 746 million francs. The government manages success and does not take a bold approach to opening up old industrial areas for new uses. The SP wants to spend more money and is now asking for free childcare for all.
What is the lesson of Basel for commoners in other Swiss cities? How do you get a majority in government or at least come close to a change of power? Liberals, Liberals and Christian Democrats no longer join forces with the SVP in Basel. This increases the chances of voting in the middle. The Popular Party has regressed in the border canton after internal disputes anyway.
Bourgeois approaches have a hard time in the big Swiss cities. The parties of the right have to wait for the left, accustomed to success, to stumble upon its arrogance. Like in Basel.
