Swiss police, protesters clash at election rally
BERNE, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Swiss police fired teargas and anti-right-wing protesters hurled rocks and bottles during a political rally in Switzerland's capital on Saturday, in a sign of rising tensions ahead of an unusually divisive election.
The clashes occurred when hundreds of demonstrators sought to interrupt an estimated 5,000-strong march organised by the right-wing Switzerland's People's Party (SVP/UDC) through the streets of Berne, a Reuters photographer on the scene said.
The SVP, which has campaigned against minarets in Swiss cities and plastered billboards and roadsides with posters calling for "black sheep" foreigners to be kicked out, is poised to be the largest vote-winner in the Oct. 21 national vote.
Its campaign has sparked criticism from human rights officials at the United Nations, whose European headquarters is in Geneva, and polarised the normally staid Swiss electorate.
There were no reported injuries or arrests from the skirmishes near Berne's historic city centre. Police had no immediate comment.
The SVP has gained popularity in recent years under the pugnacious leadership of industrialist Christoph Blocher who has appealed to conservative Swiss voters with his anti-European Union, isolationist message.
The Social Democratic Party (SP) is trailing the SVP in the lead-up to the election, and the Christian Democrats (CVP) are in third place, according to a recent poll conducted by the Swiss think tank GFS.Bern.
Switzerland is governed by a seven-member federal council in which the SVP currently holds two seats. Blocher serves as justice minister in the multi-party council.
