Baschi Dürr and Hans-Peter Wessels re-elected in second round of governmental elections
The definitive results of the second round of governmental elections of Basel-Stadt on Sunday were met with cheers: Baschi Dürr and Hans-Peter Wessels were re-elected and Elisabeth Ackermann became president of the government. Meanwhile, BastA! candidate Heidi Mück caused a small stir among political circles.
Current members of government Hans-Peter Wessels from the Social Democratic Party (SP) and Liberals (FDP) member Baschi Dürr were re-elected with a voter turnout of 48.2 per cent and a total of 51,221 votes.
A total of 26,155 people voted for Mr Wessels, while 22,906 were in favour of Mr Dürr. Green Party member Elisabeth Ackermann, who became part of the city’s government in October, was elected with a clear majority as the new governmental president, as she was the only sensible candidate.
Fellow government candidate Heidi Mück apparently managed to mobilise her voters even on a Sunday: With 21,072 votes, the candidate from the left party BastA! Came closer to police director Baschi Dürr than liberals were probably comfortable with.
However, there were no surprises at the end of the second round of elections. As expected, the left parties as well as the centre-liberal parties in Basel-Stadt can be happy with the outcome.
Baselland rejects proposals for energy tax and disposal site
The usage of non-renewable heating energy remains tax-free in the canton of Basel-Landschaft after voters on Sunday rejected the introduction of an energy tax.
A modification of the energy law was rejected with 41,927 ‘no’ votes against 31,059 ‘yes’ votes (57.45 per cent no-votes in total). A total of 40.55 per cent of the electorate turned out to vote. A corresponding modification of the cantonal constitution was rejected with 41,552 ‘no’ votes against 31,608 ‘yes’ votes (a total of 56.80 per cent no-votes).
The energy tax would have been based on the usage of non-renewable heating energy, at a maximal cost of 0.5 Rappen kilowatts per hour. The tax would have applied directly to end consumers and property owners no longer than until the end of the year 2030.
The canton aimed to use the income from this tax to finance support measures for building renovations. With the complete revision of the energy law, which was accepted by the parliament this June, the cost of the “energy package” for Baselland (launched together with the local industry in 2010) has tripled. According to an announcement, the government now plans to search for other options to achieve its goals and to secure the financing.
Opponents of the energy tax – chiefly among them the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) in the cantonal parliament – said it remained unclear if such a tax was legally possible at all. Proponents underlined the goals which have already been achieved so far.
According to the Canton, about 11,000 projects have been supported by the energy package over the past five years. The support amounted to 68 million Swiss francs in total – about 24 million francs from the canton and 44 million coming from the Federal Government.
Rheinstrasse initiative rejected
A second initiative which aimed to prevent the dismantling of a part of the Rheinstrasse between Pratteln and Liestal was also rejected with 54,333 ‘no’ votes against 17,223 ‘yes’ votes (74.48 per cent no-votes in total).
The voters instead accepted a counterproposal of the government with 54.50 per cent in favour (39,756 yes- votes against 30,890 no-votes).
The Rheinstrasse is set to now become a two-lane street with a multi-purpose lane to be used during normal times. This additional lane can be modified to be used as a third lane “within a few days” if need be.
The goal of the original initiative, on the other hand, was different: It planned to provide constant free travel on the Rheinstrasse in case of problems on the new A22 bypass road. In particular, the initiative wanted one normal lane for every direction and a multi-purpose lane in the middle. Traffic guidance systems would have allowed clearance within a short time if needed.
The part-dismantling of the Rheinstrasse is part of the main A22 project. Originally, this dismantling was expected to have taken place immediately after the opening of the A22 in December 2013. In reality, however, the current street was merely reduced to two lanes by drawing new lines.
No new waste disposal sites
Finally, the residents of Baselland also voted against three new waste disposal sites. The canton had planned these sites for the municipalities of Blauen, Zwingen, and Aesch. The recording of the sites in the cantonal structure plan (KRIP) was rejected with 38,012 ‘no’ votes against 33,390 ‘yes’ votes (53.24 per cent no-votes in total).
The opponents of the sites in Zwingen and Laufen were concerned about two water wells which would have had to be decommissioned for the project to go ahead. Furthermore, the municipalities were concerned about an increase in traffic in the Laufental area. All three disposal sites would have counted as excavation sites if they went ahead.