The Christian Social Party of Obwalden (CSP Obwalden) is a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in the
canton of Obwalden
Obwalden, also Obwald (german: Kanton Obwalden, rm, Chantun Sursilvania; french: Canton d'Obwald; it, Canton Obvaldo), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the gover ...
,
Switzerland.
History
Since the 1930s and 1940s, Christian
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
s and workers' associations existed in the canton of Obwalden. In 1956, members of the Christian Social Party faction in the Catholic Conservative Party (now the
Christian Democratic People's Party, CVP) formed a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
to be more receptive to workers' concerns than the CVP. The CSP Obwalden and the Conservative Party (later the CVP Obwalden) formed a
parliamentary group
A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council.
Parliamenta ...
in the
Cantonal Council
This is a list of cantonal legislatures of Switzerland. Each canton has a democratically elected cantonal legislature, as well as elected members to the Federal Assembly. The cantonal legislatures are elected for four years, except in Fribour ...
even after the CSP's founding.
In 1960, a member of the CSP was elected to the Executive Council for the first time. After the CSP conducted an independent election campaign in 1982, the CVP terminated the parliamentary group; since then, the CSP has formed its own group. In 2002, the CSP Obwalden left the CVP, mainly due to tensions with the Obwaldner CVP. At that time, the CSP announced that it would focus on cantonal politics. From 2005 to 2010, the CSP Obwalden had observer status in the independent Christian-left
Christian Social Party.
Since 2010, the CSP Obwalden has not been affiliated with any Swiss federal party. In the
2011 election, Karl Vogler was elected to the
National Council, the first member of the CSP Obwalden to do so. He is a member of the CVP/
EVP group.
Representation
The CSP Obwalden has 8 cantonal councilors and one national councilor.
Election results
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Political parties in Switzerland
Obwalden
Catholic political parties
Catholic social teaching
Christian democratic parties
Political parties established in 1956