The right-wing Swiss People's Party has boosted its standing as the biggest group in parliament, scooping nearly 29% of the vote after a controversial election campaign.
The bitter general election campaign leading up to yesterday’s vote was marred by charges of racism.
The SVP, already the country's largest party, is set to win 62 seats in the 200 seat National Council, gaining seven after it stirred controversy with an aggressive campaign targeting immigration and foreign criminals.
The Socialists, the second largest force in the country, were to lose nine seats, leaving them with 43, while the business-friendly Radical Party was also set for sharp losses, shedding five seats to 31.
The centre-right Christian Democrats, the junior partner in the four-party government, were forecast to gain three seats to reach 31, level pegging with the Radicals, the estimate predicted.
The estimate has already triggered renewed bargaining to reshape the four-party government when the new parliament elects the seven ministers on 12 December, as the SVP sought to exploit its growing strength.
The SVP and its leader, Justice Minister Christoph Blocher, fought an unusually aggressive electoral campaign by Swiss standards.
One of its campaign rallies ended in a riot, while a poster showing three white sheep booting out a black sheep drew accusations of racism.
The United Nations expert on racism called for the SVP's poster, which focused on expelling foreign criminals, to be withdrawn.
The SVP has denied racism.
