The Zurich election campaign is entering the hot phase
Juso boss accuses GLP of double standards
The Zurich election campaign is entering the hot phase: the political competition is shooting at the likely winner – the Green Liberals. Juso President Nicola Siegrist accuses her politicians of a lack of consistency.
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Juso boss Nicola Siegrist shoots against the GLP on Twitter.
Sarah BelgeriRingier journalism student
The canton of Zurich will vote in just over five weeks. The election campaign is slowly but surely entering the hot phase. Juso President Nicola Siegrist (26) is now raging on Twitter about the GLP: He writes that over 80 percent of the cantonal council candidates on the Smartvote election platform would state that they support an expansion of parental leave.
The reason for Siegrist’s displeasure: In 2021, the Green Liberals had sunk 14 weeks of parental leave in the cantonal council. On the grounds that this should be introduced at national level.
It is quite possible that there is also a trace of nervousness in Siegrist’s digs. SP, Greens, EPP, AL and the GLP often do things together in the cantonal council. The parties also campaign together for the cantonal elections. But campaigning is campaigning. According to polls, the SP is likely to lose votes. The GLP, on the other hand, is likely to emerge as a big winner.
flag in the wind?
GLP veteran Benno Scherrer, who is a candidate for the Zurich government council, recently made a name for himself. For a long time, he was against extending the runway at Zurich Airport. Now, shortly before the elections, suddenly the about-face: he told the “Tages-Anzeiger” that he was now in favor of extending the runway – with the condition that the number of flights did not increase.
Criticism came promptly from the SP on Twitter. Canton Councilor Felix Hoesch (52) wrote, for example, that this shows how much Scherrer weights the economy and ignores the “noise-plagued population”.
Corina Gredig (35), National Councilor and Co-President of the GLP of the Canton of Zurich, does not see Scherrer’s statements so narrowly. Finally, he said clearly that his opinion on the expansion of the runway was his personal position. “The parliamentary group in the cantonal council will take a position in the spring,” says Gredig. And further: “Net zero 2040 is still our top priority”. The party would not support projects that would run counter to this.
With regard to parental leave, Gredig points out that the GLP is still in favor of a national solution. The party has always doubted the feasibility at cantonal level – and therefore decided in 2021 in the cantonal council as a party to allow voting. (bgs)