2011

This year, matching with the federal elections, 26 of the 200 participants of the Youth Session were elected by the other people. With various slogans ("Vote young, strengthen Switzerland!", "EU - No thanks!", "If nothing goes right, go left") they were able to present themselves. In an E-Voting, they got elected for a place in the National Council. At PolitBuskers, various young politicians had the opportunity to compete with each other in debates and discussion rounds on three stages throughout the city and to court for the favour of the audience, consisting of participants in the Youth Session and passers-by. This was not always successful: there were reportedly some "booing".But the young people also had their say, both at PolitBuskers and at the session itself. They demanded a harmonised education system, better protection for apprentices, nationalisation of the SBB, compulsory integration courses for migrants, more measures for equal pay and more precise requirements for naturalisation. In 20 years, the Youth Session has constantly changed and developed. From a one-off, one-day event, it has become a regular and now four-day event with a remarkable supporting programme, which even after 20 years still regularly attracts more interested people than there are places available. For the first time, the Youth Session took place each for two days at different locations for the preparation and for two days in Bern.