Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Forty-four of Canton Geneva’s 45 communes Sunday 17 April elected their town managers, leaving the Left firmly in power, in the city of Geneva but also in a majority of its neighbouring communes.
The city of Geneva elected four Socialists to its Executif: Sami Kanaan, noted for his closeness to outgoing magistrate Manuel Tornare, received the most votes, with a Socialist, Sandrine Salerno, a Green, Esther Alder and a member of Ensemble à gauche, Rémy Pagani just behind him.
Onex elected Eric Stauffer, the only commune to vote in a member of the MCG party. It made headlines in March 2011 when 11 MCG members were voted onto Geneva’s local parliament, but its abrasive approach left it without enough allies to put in a similar strong performance this weekend.
Elections in local media: Le Temps (registration), TDG, TSR
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The federal police and foreign affairs departments have agreed to back the Swiss attorney general’s office to press charges against a prominent Geneva politician at the request of Libya. The two departments announced Thursday 18 November that Libya had formally requested that charges be pressed against Eric Stauffer, president of the Mouvement citoyens genevois (MCG), for “outrage” (insults) against a foreign government.
The foreign government in question must file the request with the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department before Swiss authorities can act on it.
Stauffer, who has recently had a number of conflicts with authorities in Geneva, has backed his party’s use of a poster featuring Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffi in campaigns for the 28 November popular referendum on sending foreign criminals back to their home countries.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Geneva political party MCG just cannot get its poster right for the 28 November popular referendum vote on shipping out foreigners who commit serious crimes. The Tribune de Geneve announced Tuesday 2 November it is billing the party for copyright infringement for using a photo from the newspaper on a poster.
First the party, which labels itself “not left, not right, Geneva first”, was blasted by regional media in October for using the poster to inflame racism, with its excerpts from cantonal police reports that give nationalities of people arrested.
Then the Geneva government, the Conseil d’Etat, told the party to change its poster because of a line and photo at the bottom considered to be potentially damaging to the national interest: “He wants to destroy Switzerland” next to a photo of Libya’s leader.
Group of deputies reportedly planning law to “muzzle” Stauffer
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva politics, rarely calm, are heating up as Eric Stauffer, president of the Mouvement Citoyen Genevois (MCG), told Radio Cité Monday morning he will press charges against Guy Mettan, president of the canton’s Grand Conseil. Mettan, who heads the Geneva Press Club, last week labelled Stauffer a “specialist in violating” secrecy rules. Swiss law is strict on the obligation of employees, corporate but also political delegates, to respect confidential information. Stauffer accused Mettan of lying and says he will now press charges.
The issue of secrecy has been a hot one in Geneva politics for several months, with Stauffer often figuring in the heated exchanges.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Eric Stauffer says he will rid the streets of Geneva of beggars within 45 days of being elected to the cantonal government, if he is elected 15 November. The leader of the Mouvement des Citoyens Genevois (MCG) party which was the undeniable winner of Sunday’s 11 October elections to the cantonal parliament, or Grand Conseil, said on early morning radio 12 October that if elected to the seven-person cabinet, he will work to remove beggars from the streets.
