Elections City of Bern FDP focuses on housing, finance and trade in election campaign

In the election campaign, the Liberal Democrats in the city of Berne are focusing on issues such as housing construction, sustainable finances and a strong business community. The party is aiming for a seat on the municipal council and an additional seat on the city council. The party is entering the municipal council election with lawyer and financial politician Florence Pärli.

There is a great need for action in the areas of housing, finance and the economy because the red-green majority has neglected these issues and bypassed the population, FDP Co-President Chantal Perriard told the media on Wednesday.

The city has had enough of specialist agencies, regulations and red-green paternalism. It needs more creativity, innovation and personal responsibility. The FDP election campaign is currently being launched under the slogan "We'll make sure you can do it".

Co-President René Lenzin added that the city of Bern has a spending problem. After 32 years of red-green dominance, it was high time to question superfluous or inefficient services.

It was important to maintain prosperity in the city of Bern, explained municipal council candidate Florence Pärli. The middle classes must also be able to afford an apartment, for example.

The city has often expanded its services for ideological reasons and the mountain of debt is growing and growing. Pärli said that she wanted to counteract this. According to Pärli's analogy, a ship only sails well if it is not loaded to one side or overloaded.

More apartments

One of the issues the Liberals are tackling in the election campaign is housing construction. The housing shortage in the city affects practically all sections of the population. The party believes that one of the main causes is the slow pace of construction activity. Lengthy procedures deter developers and the large urban housing projects in Viererfeld and on the Gaswerk site are being delayed by the municipal council.

With a popular initiative, the Free Democrats are fighting for an increase in the permitted building height in the city. In other words, densification without building over green spaces.

Criticism of the mountain of debt

With last week's budget debate, the city council once again demonstrated its irresponsibility in terms of financial policy, the FDP said on Wednesday.

The 2025 budget envisages a deficit of CHF 30 million. The debt could soon amount to 1.7 billion francs, Florence Pärli calculated.

Because today's debts are tomorrow's taxes, a more sustainable financial policy is needed. For the FDP, this includes a reduction in consumer spending and a prioritization of investments.

Listening to the economy

The interests of the economy are often forgotten when the city plans, builds or regulates. Businesses too often find no room to grow and they suffer from a rigid transport policy that is unilaterally focused on bicycles.

In the municipal elections at the end of November, for the first time in many years, the local government is running in a joint alliance, of which the FDP is also a member. It is opposed by the traditional red-green block.

For the city council elections, the FDP has put together a list of 40 candidates, 18 women and 22 men, as Perriard explained.

SDA