Switzerland was on Wednesday night being run by the most right-wing government in its post-war history after Christoph Blocher, the controversial anti-immigrant populist, won a seat in the country's Cabinet.
In a move that is likely to doom Switzerland's lingering aspirations to join the EU, and could usher in anti-asylum laws, the Swiss parliament yesterday voted to elect Mr Blocher, the leader of the far-right Swiss People's party (SVP), to its ruling council.
Mr Blocher scraped in by a mere five votes. It was the narrowest of margins, following a morning of high drama in the Swiss capital, Bern.
"I promise you that I will do everything to earn your trust," the 63-year-old billionaire industrialist said in his acceptance speech, which was accompanied by raucous celebrations from his supporters in a nearby hotel. Grinning broadly, he hugged several party colleagues.
"I accept my election. I hope that with God's help it will work out for the best," he said.
Mr Blocher's elevation to the seven-seat Cabinet spells the end, after 44 years, of Switzerland's cosy system of political consensus: the country's four main political parties, including the SVP, have traditionally shared power in a grand coalition.
Mr Blocher had earlier threatened to go into opposition if the other parties failed to give him a seat in the government. The SVP already has one Cabinet seat but demanded another after winning Switzerland's general election in October following the most explicitly xenophobic campaign in the country's history.
Mr Blocher was elected yesterday with 121 votes, unseating Ruth Metzler, the incumbent Christian People's party justice minister, who got 116. The result came after three rounds of voting -- and marked the first time in 131 years that a sitting member of the country's Cabinet had been kicked out.
Last night, observers said there was no doubt that Switzerland had moved to the right, and pointed out that the other new Cabinet member, Hans-Rudolf Merz, from the Free Liberal party, was also an arch conservative, especially on fiscal matters.
"This is the most right-wing government in years, as well as the most male, and perhaps the toughest as well. It is a government of powerful men," said Johann Aeschlimann, a leading political commentator.
Mr Blocher, however, was "an intelligent man" and not a "right-wing nut," and he was likely to try and work within the existing system, Mr Aeschlimann said.
But there was little doubt last night that the election of Mr Blocher, an avowed enemy of European integration, now means there is virtually no prospect of Switzerland joining the EU in the next decade.
Tough anti-asylum laws are already being considered by the Swiss parliament, but they could now be beefed up by Mr Blocher, who in the run-up to the election blamed Switzerland's problems on "shameless asylum seekers" and a "brutal Albanian mafia."
In the past, Mr Blocher has campaigned against allowing Swiss soldiers to take part in foreign peacekeeping operations, as well as against Swiss membership of the UN.
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