The Green Liberal Party of Switzerland (german: Grünliberale Partei der Schweiz, glp; french: Parti vert'libéral, pvl), abbreviated to glp, is a
centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
green-liberal 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
Switzerland. Founded in 2007, the party holds sixteen seats in the
Federal Assembly as of the October 2019 election.
The party was formed on 19 July 2007 by four
cantonal
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 Con ...
branches of the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
. Contesting the
election in October 2007 in
St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website = ...
and
Zurich, the party won three seats in the
National Council. A month later, the party won a seat in the
Council of States, with
Verena Diener
Verena Diener (born 27 March 1949 in Winterthur) is a Swiss politician. A member of the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland she represented the canton of Zürich in the National Council from 1987 to 1998 and in the Council of States from 2007 t ...
representing Zurich. The party has since expanded across Switzerland, and holds seats in thirteen
cantonal legislatures in
German-speaking Switzerland
The German-speaking part of Switzerland (german: Deutschschweiz, french: Suisse alémanique, it, Svizzera tedesca, rm, Svizra tudestga) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switz ...
and the
Romandy
Romandy (french: Romandie or )Before World War I, the term French Switzerland (french: Suisse française) waalso used german: Romandie or , it, Romandia, rm, Romanda) is the French-speaking part of western Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 milli ...
. The party reached 5.4% at the
2011 federal election, increasing the number of Members of the National Council from 3 to 12, suffered a setback in
2015 retreating to 7 seats with 4,6% of the national vote,
only to recover in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
by winning 16 seats with 7.8% of the vote.
The Green Liberals are a party of the political
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
,
as opposed to the left Green Party. They seek to combine
liberalism on civil liberties and moderate
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
with environmental
sustainability.
The party has an autonomous parliamentary group in the
Federal Assembly of Switzerland
The Federal Assembly (german: Bundesversammlung, french: Assemblée fédérale, it, Assemblea federale, rm, Assamblea federala), also known as the Swiss parliament (''Parlament'', ''Parlement'', ''Parlamento''), is Switzerland's federal legi ...
since the
2011 federal election.
History
The party was founded on 19 July 2007 by four
cantonal
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 Con ...
parties of the same name that had seceded from the Green Party. These branches were in
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...
,
Bern,
St. Gallen
, neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach
, twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic)
, website = ...
, and
Zurich.
In the
2007 election to the
National Council on 22 October 2007, the party ran in Zurich and St. Gallen.
Despite being limited to only two cantons, the party won 1.4% of the popular vote nationwide and 3 out of 200 seats. In Zurich, they won 7% of the vote.
One of these three had been a National Councillor for the Green Party in the previous Parliament.
A month later, it won a seat in the
Council of States, with
Verena Diener
Verena Diener (born 27 March 1949 in Winterthur) is a Swiss politician. A member of the Green Liberal Party of Switzerland she represented the canton of Zürich in the National Council from 1987 to 1998 and in the Council of States from 2007 t ...
representing Zurich. Along with the first appearance of the Green Party, this was the first time a minor party had won representation in the Council of States since 1995.
When the Federal Assembly convened, the glp joined the
Christian Democrats/EPP/glp Group,
making it the second-largest group, behind the
Swiss People's Party.
In 2010 the party got an additional seat in the Council of States with
Markus Stadler from
Uri.
Since April 2022 there are cantonal parties in all 26 cantons.
The glp was one of the leading political parties for legalising
same-sex marriage in Switzerland
Same-sex marriage in Switzerland has been legal since 1 July 2022. Legislation to open marriage to same-sex couples passed the Swiss Parliament in December 2020. The law was challenged in a referendum on 26 September 2021 by opponents of same- ...
, in which it was adopted in
an optional referendum on 26 September 2021.
In October 2021, the glp introduced a new, refreshed logo with the French slogan (creators of the future).
Elected representatives
Council of States
None since the 2015 election.
National Council
2019-2023 legislature:
*
Martin Bäumle
Martin Bäumle MP (born 3 June 1964, in Thalwil) is a Swiss scientist and politician. He has been a member of the National Council since 2003. Originally a member of the Green Party of Switzerland, he founded the Green Liberal Party of the Cant ...
*
Kathrin Bertschy
Isabelle Chevalley(until 2021)
Beat Flach*
Jürg Grossen
Tiana Angelina MoserJudith BellaïcheThomas Brunner*
Katja Christ
Roland FischerCorina GredigJörg MäderMichel MatterMelanie MettlerFrançois PointetBarbara SchaffnerCéline Weber(since 2021)
See also
*
Environmental movement in Switzerland
The environmental movement in Switzerland is represented by a wide range of associations (non-governmental organisations).
The article also present green politics and Environmental policy, environmental policies of Switzerland.
Organisation ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2007 establishments in Switzerland
Centrist parties in Switzerland
Green liberalism
Green political parties in Switzerland
Liberal parties in Switzerland
Political parties established in 2007
Pro-European political parties in Switzerland
Swiss Climate Alliance
Social liberal parties