Lausanne City Elections

A major task stands before Wife and me: voting in our first municipal election. A law was recently passed giving us longstanding foreigners of good reputation the possibility of influencing the local political scene.

We have a parliamentary system. You vote for LISTS, be it Communist, Green, Socialist, Central, Radical, Liberal or Right/Extreme right. Special poster boards cover the town. Admire the Cathedral and you get a free glimpse of a party candidate. Look at the mountains (the snow is incredible on those dark blue ranges), there’s someone’s smiling face in the foreground staring right at you.

I like looking at posters and deciding if the face matches the party. The farther left you go, no lie, the more pimples you’ve got and the longer it’s been since your last haircut. The farther right you go (here, Liberal means Right, not Left) the more Swiss-German you’ve got to look.

I’m thankful that the present government gave us the vote, but it’s time we kick the bums out and change things for the better. This year, I’ll vote centrist. We’ve got a Green government and a communist or two, and I’m pretty sure they’re responsible for the ugly posters in town.