SWITZERLAND:Swiss voters choosing candidates in tomorrow's parliamentary elections have been subject to an increasingly divisive and personality-driven campaign, with the right-wing Swiss People's Party poised to benefit most from raised tensions.
Final pre-election polls show that the People's Party is likely to consolidate its position and remain the largest party in parliament, with 27 per cent of the vote.
The Greens are also forecast to do well, with their share of the vote projected to increase by 2.6 percentage points to 10 per cent. However, the party would still not be large enough to secure a cabinet position.
The People's Party is one of four governing parties and its frontman, justice minister Christoph Blocher, has been a controversial figure throughout the election campaign.
A billionaire and former businessman, Mr Blocher came under intense criticism when his party ran a nationwide poster campaign to support its initiative to expel foreign criminals. The cartoon showed three white sheep kicking a black sheep out of Switzerland, with the caption "For more security".
The People's Party is also spearheading a campaign to ban the construction of minarets. An estimated 340,000 Muslims live in Switzerland, the largest religious group after Christian faiths.
Pre-election campaigning was marred by violence a fortnight ago when a rally scheduled by the right-wing party in the capital, Bern, was disrupted by left-wing extremists.
Several hundred protesters prevented the estimated 10,000 People's Party supporters from marching through the streets of Bern to gather outside the parliament building. The rioters threw stones and bottles at police and destroyed the infrastructure set up for the rally.
Rival politicians condemned the violence but also criticised the provocative nature of the People's Party's hard-line policies. Interior minister Pascal Couchepin said he had warned the party's ministers about the risk of violence.
"They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind," Mr Couchepin said on television after the riot.
However, political commentators pointed out that the violence was likely to boost the standing of the People's Party, increasing its profile as a lone voice of dissent.
Two of the other three government parties are expected to lose some support in the election. The centre-left Social Democrats are set to fall back slightly, as are the centre-right Radicals. The Christian Democrats are expected to see a slight improvement, taking them to 15 per cent.
Posts in Switzerland's seven-member cabinet are divided between the four largest parties based on a tradition of consensus. The cabinet will be chosen on December 12th.
Mr Blocher recently accused the other parties of plotting to exclude him from the next cabinet.
Parliamentary elections take place every four years in Switzerland and turnout is traditionally low, usually between 40 and 50 per cent.
The Swiss elections are being monitored for the first time by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
A team of 10 observers from the OSCE's office for democratic institutions and human rights was invited by the Swiss authorities to analyse the workings of the electoral system.
As part of the country's direct democracy system, Swiss citizens also vote several times a year on policy issues at the federal, cantonal and communal levels.
Some 80 per cent of voters submit their ballots in advance by post, including 111,000 Swiss expatriates who are entitled to vote.
At stake are the 200 seats in the house of representatives and most of the 46 seats in the senate.