http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gPf4emdmRTQi6ml9QjDu1pzkynwABERN (AFP) — Swiss lawmakers on Wednesday ousted leading far-right politician Christoph Blocher from the cabinet, even though his party won the most votes in October's general elections.
Blocher, the key driver behind the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP), won the support of just 115 of the 246 lawmakers gathered in Bern, which was not enough to retain his seat in the governing Federal Council.
The SVP scored a record 29 percent of the vote in October's general elections, the best ever result for any Swiss party since 1919, but Blocher's aggressive stance and inflammatory politics made him many enemies in a political system more used to genteel consensus.
The fractious election campaign was marred by a riot and the SVP's tactics were denounced as racist by a United Nations expert.