"My babies," shouts a soldier. He means all the weapons that he doesn't want to give up. On May 19, Swiss voters agreed to a weapons law that conforms to EU norms, including stricter regulation of semi-automatic weapons. (Caroline Rutz for "Vigousse")
Caroline Rutz (Caro) Vigousse
Greenland deal and Brexit chaos: "The New Normal," embodied through Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. (Felix Schaad for "Tages-Anzeiger")
Felix Schaad Tages-Anzeiger
Climate change, or when the oceans overflow: According to a study, from 2050 some 300 million people a year will be affected by flooding caused by global warming. That's three times more than previously thought. (Bénédicte Sambo for "24heures")
Bénédicte Sambo
Whether Brexit will prove to be political suicide for Britain remains to be seen. Politically, former Prime Minister Theresa May did not survive the chaos surrounding the former empire's withdrawal from the EU. (Tom Künzli for "Nebelspalter")
Tom Kuenzli
"Smoking can set Notre-Dame Cathedral on fire." On April 15, the Paris trademark was in flames. The authorities suspected a cigarette or a short circuit. (Bénédicte Sambo for "24 Heures")
Bénédicte Sambo 24 Heures
Climate change or arm wrestling between unequal opponents: At left the Earth, weakened by warming; at right the industrialist making a fortune on carbon-heavy business. (Max Spring for "Solidarisch")
Max Spring
On May 16, US President Donald Trump received Swiss Finance Minister (and rotating president) Ueli Maurer at the White House. It's clear who is in the driver's seat and who gets the child's seat. (Alexandre Ballaman for "La Liberté")
Alexandre Ballaman (Alex) La Liberté
Gender equality in Switzerland? Not yet. This summer parliament approved 20-30% quotas to increase the number of women on the boards of Swiss companies. (Tony Marchand for "Feuille d'Avis du District de Courtelary")
Tony Marchand Feuille d'Avis du District de Courtelary
In 2019's general parliamentary election, the Greens gained 17 seats. By December Green Party leader Regula Rytz was angling for a seat on the federal council, namely that of Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. She didn't get it, but many are calling for a Green seat at the executive level. (Patrick Chappatte for "NZZ am Sonntag")
Patrick Chappatte NZZ am Sonntag
For caricaturists, it’s hard to top the absurdity of a president wanting to buy another country. Here’s how Swiss political cartoonists illustrated 2019.
This content was published on
Studied history and politics at University of Bern. Worked at Reuters, the newspapers Der Bund and Berner Zeitung, and the Förderband radio station. I am concerned with the Swiss practice of modern direct democracy in all its aspects and at all levels, my constant focus being the citizen.
Renat Kuenzi (text) and Ester Unterfinger (photo selection)
The crazy, the bizarre and the absurd: it’s “The New Normal” in today’s politics, remarked Brazilian journalist Daniela Pinheiro at a debate held as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of SWI swissinfo.ch. Illustrators in Switzerland and around the world have had ample material to work with.
Felix Schaad drew US President Donald Trump, who sits pouting at the table like a child because he can’t have Greenland. But there’s a solution, he is told – another island is “cheap and available”: Britain. So he brings in Prime Minister Boris Johnson, standing in the doorway with the Union Jack.
The reality, however, is far less harmless. This also applies to the masters of the sharp pen, who counter and expose any absurdity of the “strong men” with an even greater absurdity.
For example, the work of Patrick Chappatte – the undisputed number one political commentator in Switzerland – will no longer appear in the international edition of The New York Times. Earlier this year, one of his colleagues sparked such a virulent debate with an illustration that the newspaper decided to drop political cartoons from its offering altogether.
It was Chappatte who made the decision public. In an article for SWI swissinfo.ch, Chappatte described what the newspaper’s departure from the medium of caricature signalled for him.
So this amusing review of the political year 2019 has a bitter aftertaste. Namely that the air is getting thinner for the free spirits like Chappatte, who are indispensable for a democracy.
In the exhibition Gezeichnet 2019External link, around 50 illustrators from all over Switzerland are exhibiting over 200 works.
The exhibition is under the patronage of the Swiss satirical magazine NebelspalterExternal link and is expected to attract several thousand visitors over the course of the year.
More
More
Chappatte laments end of political cartoons at New York Times
This content was published on
Swiss cartoonist Patrick Chappatte has expressed his sadness and concern at The New York Times’ decision to end political cartoons.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
2018 as seen by Swiss cartoonists
This content was published on
Here is a selection of the people and events inside and outside Switzerland that caught the attention of Swiss political cartoonists.
This content was published on
Jump on, ride to your stop, hop off — without offending anybody. Sounds easy, but it’s not, warns a guru of Swiss transport etiquette.
This content was published on
It is not easy to sum up a country with four linguistic regions in a cartoon and ensure it makes sense to an international readership.
This content was published on
The 2018 International Press Drawing Prize, presented biannually in Geneva, has been awarded to Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.