The Grand Council of Ticino (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Gran Consiglio di Ticino'') is the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

for the

Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Co ...

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

. The 90-member council is elected every four years by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in a single constituency comprising the citizens resident in the canton, and meets at the Ursoline Palace in the capital,

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

. Members are called Deputies (''deputati''). Elections coincide with those of the canton's executive body, the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. The last elections were on 7 April 2019. The President and two Vice-Presidents are selected by the members of the Grand Council, and not the electorate. Minutes of meetings are made public. The Grand Council appoints the members of the canton's judiciary (save for justices of the peace, who are elected in their area by the citizens) and public prosecutors.

Composition

* Liberal Radical Party (''Partito Liberale Radicale'', PLR): 23 *

Ticino League The Ticino League ( it, Lega dei Ticinesi) is a regionalist, national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino. The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli. ...

(''Lega dei Ticinesi'', Lega): 18 * Democratic People's Party (''Partito Popolare Democratico'', PPD): 16 *

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

(''Partito Socialista'', PS): 13 *

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...

(''I Verdi''): 6 * Democratic Union of the Centre (''Unione Democratica di Centro'', UDC): 6 * Movement for Socialism (''Movimento per il Socialismo'', MPS): 3 *

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

(''Partito Comunista'', PC): 2 * More Women (''Più Donne''): 2 *

Federal Democratic Union The Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (German: ''Eidgenössisch-Demokratische Union'', EDU; French: ''Union Démocratique Fédérale'', UDF; Italian: ''Unione Democratica Federale'', UDF; Romansch: ''Uniun Democrata Federala'', UDF) is a na ...

(''Unione Democratica Federale'', UDF): 1 (elected on the UDC list) * ''Groups''

Building

Both the Ticinese Council of State and the Grand Council meet at the Ursuline Palace. The palace was first built as a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

in 1738 for Ursuline nuns. The legislative and executive organs first convened in the Palace on 20 May 1803, the year of the Canton's admission to the Confederation, at a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery. On 26 August 1803, the first session was held. In 1848, the Law on the Suppression of Monasteries forced the Ursuline nuns to leave, and the premises have been solely occupied by the legislative and executives organs of the Canton of Ticino since.Il Palazzo delle Orsoline - GC (TICH) - Cantone Ticino

References

{{Politics of Swiss cantons Ticino

Bellinzona Organisations based in Bellinzona