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Green Party of Switzerland

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Green Party of Switzerland
German nameGRÜNE Schweiz
French nameLes VERT-E-S suisses, pr. les vertes et les verts
Italian nameVERDI svizzeri
Romansh nameVERDA svizra
PresidentLisa Mazzone (since 2024)[1]
Members of the Federal CouncilNone
Founded28 May 1983; 41 years ago (28 May 1983)
HeadquartersWaisenhausplatz 21
CH-3011 Bern
Membership (2022)13,000[2]
IdeologyGreen politics
Political positionCentre-left to left-wing
European affiliationEuropean Green Party
International affiliationGlobal Greens
Colours  Green
National Council
23 / 200
Council of States
3 / 46
Cantonal Executives
7 / 154
Cantonal legislatures
249 / 2,544
Website
gruene.ch
verts.ch
Swiss Federal Council
Federal Chancellor
Federal Assembly
Council of States (members)
National Council (members)
Voting

The Green Party of Switzerland (German: GRÜNE Schweiz; French: Les VERT-E-S suisses; Italian: VERDI svizzeri; Romansh: VERDA svizra)[3] is a green political party in Switzerland.[4][5] It is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.[6]

History

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The first Green party in Switzerland, MPE, was founded as a local party in 1971 in the town of Neuchâtel. In 1979, Daniel Brélaz was elected to the National Council as the first Green MP on the national level (in Switzerland and in the world). Local and regional Green parties and organisations were founded in many different towns and cantons in the following years.

In 1983, two different national green party federations were created: in May, diverse local green groups came together in Fribourg to form the Federation of Green Parties of Switzerland, and in June, some left-alternative groups formed the Green Alternative Party of Switzerland in Bern. In 1990, an attempt to combine these organisations failed. Afterward, some of the member groups from the Green Alternative Party joined the Federation of Green Parties which has become the de facto national Green party. In 1993, the Federation of Green Parties changed its name to the Green Party of Switzerland.[7]

In 1986, the first two Green members of a cantonal government became members of the Regierungsrat of Bern.

In 1987, the Green Party of Switzerland joined the European Federation of Green Parties.

In the 1990s, members of the Green Party became town mayors, members of the high court, and even the president of a cantonal government (Verena Diener in 1999).

In 2007, the centrist wing of the party split away and formed the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland.

With the rise of right-wing and populist attitudes, the Greens continued to lose support in Switzerland. In the 2023 federal election, they came in fifth place, after their split from the “liberals”.[8]

Policies

[edit]
The Green Party's positions in the Swiss political spectrum (2007).

The party has been described as being centre-left[9][10] to left-wing.[9][11] The traditional emphases of the party's policies lie in environmentalism and green means of transportation. In terms of foreign policy, the greens set out on the course of openness and pacifism. In economic policy, the Greens are centre-left. The majority of Greens support an accession of Switzerland to the European Union.[12] In immigration policy, the greens support further integration initiatives for immigrants. The Greens support measures to increase energy efficiency, oppose nuclear power, and support raising energy and fuel prices. According to their policy, the resulting revenues should be allocated to social security spending.

[edit]
Percentages of the Green Party at district level in 2011

National Council and Council of States

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Election year # of overall votes % of overall vote # of National Council
seats won 		+/- # of Council of States
seats won 		+/- Notes
1979 11,583 0.6
1 / 200
0 / 46
1983 37,079 1.9
3 / 200
 Increase 2
0 / 46
1987 94,378 4.9
9 / 200
 Increase 6
0 / 46
1991 124,149 6.1
14 / 200
 Increase 5
0 / 46
1995 96,069 5.0
8 / 200
 Decrease 6
0 / 46
1999 96,807 5.0
8 / 200
 Steady 0
0 / 46
2003 156,226 7.4
13 / 200
 Increase 5
0 / 46
2007 222,206 9.6
20 / 200
 Increase 7
2 / 46
 Increase 2
2011 205,984 8.4
15 / 200
 Decrease 5
2 / 46
 Steady 0
2015 177,938 7.1
11 / 200
 Decrease 4
1 / 46
 Decrease 1
2019 319,988 13.2
28 / 200
 Increase 17
5 / 46
 Increase 4
2023 249,891 9.78
23 / 200
 Decrease 5
3 / 46
 Decrease 2

On the national level, in 2003 the Green Party was not represented in the Council of States or Federal Council. In 2007, two Green Party members were elected to the Council of States.[13]

By 2005, the party held 3.8 per cent of the seats in the Swiss cantonal executive governments and 6.9 per cent in the Swiss cantonal parliaments (index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats). In 2007, the Green Party was represented in the governments of the cantons Bern, Basel-City, Geneva (two ministers), Neuchâtel, Nidwalden, Vaud, Zug (two ministers) and Zurich.[14]

Party strength over time

[edit]
Percentage of the total vote for the Green Party in Federal Elections 1971-2019[15]
Canton 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Switzerland * 0.1 0.6 1.9 4.9 6.1 5.0 5.0 7.4 9.6 8.4 7.1 13.2 9.8
Zurich *a * 1.3 4.2 8.0 7.0 6.5 4.1 8.5 10.4 8.4 6.9 14.1 9.9
Berne * * * * 9.2 9.9 5.9 7.5 9.3 12.9 9.4 8.5 13.6 10.8
Lucerne * * * * * 9.3 8.1 8.0 9.8 9.5 8.3 7.1 12.2 8.1
Uri * * * * * * * * 30.6 * * 26.3 * *
Schwyz * * * * * * * * * 3.4 3.8 1.4 2.6 2.7
Obwalden * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Nidwalden * * * * * * * * * * 19.6 * * *
Glarus * * * * * * * * * * * * 2.7 *
Zug * * * * * * * * * 17.0 15.4 7.2 19.2 16.2
Fribourg * * * * 4.2 * 2.3 * 4.0 6.3 5.0 5.3 12.5 11.8
Solothurn * * * * * 7.3 5.8 4.9 6.0 10.0 7.5 5.6 11.4 9.3
Basel-Stadt * * * * 1.1 4.4 5.6 8.7 9.2 12.1 13.4 11.2 17.7 17.1
Basel-Landschaft * * * 1.9 6.9 11.0 9.5 9.2 12.6 13.8 13.6 14.2 18.0 10.0
Schaffhausen * * * * * * * * * * * 3.4 6.8 4.8
Appenzell A.Rh. * * * * * * * * * * 6.4 * * *
Appenzell I.Rh. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
St. Gall * * * * * 6.2 4.9 4.0 7.1 6.4 6.4 5.7 10.5 8.7
The Grisons * * * * * * 3.5 * * * 2.2 * 5.5 5.2
Aargau * * * * * 6.8 5.3 4.4 5.1 8.1 7.3 5.5 9.8 7.1
Thurgau * * * 5.9 10.8 9.0 9.3 6.2 7.9 10.2 7.0 5.4 10.6 8.5
Ticino * * * * 1.9 1.0 1.7 1.4 3.0 4.8 6.7 3.5 12.1 9.1
Vaud * 1.0 6.4 7.0 8.4 6.3 4.1 7.1 11.3 14.3 11.6 11.3 19.7 13.5
Valais * * * * 1.7 1.3 1.3 2.1 2.6 3.9 5.0 4.9 10.6 8.4
Neuchâtel * * * 7.4 7.1 8.0 5.9 14.7 13.8 9.4 11.7 9.3 20.8 16.5
Geneva * * * 7.6 11.5 6.7 5.6 8.2 11.2 16.4 14.0 11.5 24.6 15.4
Jura b b * * * * * * * * 11.0 7.3 15.6 11.1
1.^a * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.
2.^b Part of the Canton of Bern until 1979.

Party presidents

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This is an incomplete list of the presidents of the Green Party since 1990:[16]

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ Swiss Green Party elects new president
  2. ^ Grünes Wahlprogramm: 13’000 Mitglieder können an der «Agenda 2023-2027» mitschreiben, 18. September 2022
  3. ^ "Statuten — 1. Name und Sitz". GRÜNE Schweiz (in German). Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  4. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Switzerland". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  5. ^ Bale, Tim (2021). Riding the populist wave: Europe's mainstream right in crisis. Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-009-00686-6. OCLC 1256593260.
  6. ^ "Switzerland | Left of Centre | The Green Party of Switzerland | Trade Bridge Consultants". tradebridgeconsultants.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  7. ^ Lucardie, Paul (5 December 2016). Green Parties in Transition: The End of Grass-roots Democracy?. Routledge. ISBN 9781351932110.
  8. ^ Aktuell, S. W. R. (22 October 2023). "Parlamentswahl in der Schweiz: Rechte gewinnen, Grüne verlieren". swr.online (in German). Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Appendix A3: Political Parties" (PDF). European Social Survey (8th ed.). 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Switzerland".
  11. ^ Federal Chancellery, Communication Support (2016). The Swiss Confederation – a brief guide. Switzerland: Swiss Confederation. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Switzerland". EuropeElects.
  13. ^ NZZ Online, 11 November 2007 (German)
  14. ^ Church, Clive (October 2007). "ELECTION BRIEFING No 39 EUROPE AND THE SWISS PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 21OCTOBER 2007". Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  15. ^ Nationalratswahlen: Kantonale Parteistärke, zusammengefasst nach Parteien (Kanton = 100%) (Report). Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 2015.
  16. ^ GRÜNE Schweiz (1 November 2020). "Geschichte der GRÜNEN" (PDF). GRÜNE Schweiz. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
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