Green Party of Switzerland

The Green Party of Switzerland ( GPS, short Green Switzerland; French Parti écologiste suisse, Italian Partito ecologista svizzero, Romansh: Partida ecologica svizra ) is an ecological Swiss party. She is a member of the European Green Party and the Global Greens. The Young Green make up the whole of Switzerland Jung party.

Cantonal parties

For the Greens, the cantonal parties have weighed heavily. Accordingly, there is in the cantons in part several parties belonging to all of the Green Party of Switzerland.

• Aargau: Green Aargau
• Appenzell Ausserrhoden: Green Appenzell ( GRAIL )
• Basel- City: Green Party of Basel-Stadt and Basel strong alternative ( BastA! )
• Basel-Land: Green Basel Country
• Bern: Green Canton of Bern, Bern Green Party - Democratic Alternative
• Freiburg: Les Verts fribourgeois / Green Freiburg
• Geneva: Les Verts - Parti écologiste Genevois
• Glarus: Green of Canton Glarus
• Graubünden: Verda - Green Graubünden ( newly founded June 26, 2007, name change from Green Canton of Graubünden)
• Jura: Jura Verts Persia
• Lucerne: Green Canton of Lucerne
• Neuchâtel: Les Verts
• Nidwalden: Green Nidwalden ( until the end of 2008 Democratic Nidwalden )
• Solothurn: Green Canton of Solothurn
• St. Gallen: Green Canton of St. Gallen
• Schaffhausen: Ökoliberale movement Schaffhausen ( ÖBS )
• Schwyz: Green Schwyz ( newly founded 21 June 2007 predecessor: Critical Forum Schwyz, dissolved 1999)
• Thurgau: Green Party of Thurgau
• Ticino: I Verdi Ticinesi
• Uri: Uri Green
• Vaud: Les Verts - Mouvement écologiste Vaudois
• Wallis: Score écologiste valaisan
• Train: Alternative - the Greens train
• Zurich: Green Canton Zurich

In the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden - where there are generally no parties or factions - there is no separate Green Party. Founded on 5 December 2008 Green Obwalden section was disbanded at the end of 2009.

Position

Traditional focus on Green politics is the environmental and transport policy, besides the Greens are also active in other areas of Swiss politics. In the foreign and security policy, the Greens pursue a cosmopolitan and pacifist course, in social and economic policy they represented, from a social attitude starting out, a relatively broad spectrum left of center.

Accession to the European Union support the majority Green without being enthusiastic about the EU. A strong minority rejects the candidate but from also. In Aliens, the Greens call for an aggressive policy of integration and naturalization, particularly for young foreign people. The Greens support an increase in energy prices. The resulting income should be used for the financing of social security.

A study at the Swiss electoral studies at the University of Lausanne showed that the green candidates for " more government " (" more market " against ) and for " integration and openness in society » inserting strong ( against " tradition and conservatism "). According to an analysis of the Geographical Institute of the University of Zurich, the voting behavior of the Green Member of Parliament in the Legislature from 2007 to 2011 is conservative and left. In smartvote the green candidates in general are clear on the left and on the Liberal - Conservative- axis moderate liberal.

Representation in parliaments and executives

The Green Party of Switzerland is by far the strongest party who is not represented in the Bundesrat. In the parliamentary elections of 2011, the Greens recorded a 8.4 % share of the vote. Thus, the Green Group secured 15 seats out of 200 in the National Council, which means a loss of five seats compared with 2007, and 2 of 46 in the Senate (the cantons of Geneva and Vaud ). In the cantons of Aargau, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Bern, Fribourg, Vaud, Zurich train and the Greens are represented by one member of the government, in the canton of Geneva even with two. In various cities are Green members in the Gemeindexekutiven, Basel, Lausanne, Liestal Schaffhausen and make the Greens the city Bureau. Since 1999, the Greens have called repeatedly a seat in the Federal Council at a center-left coalition to the exclusion of the SVP, but so far unsuccessfully.

History

Origins

The Swiss Greens have two different origins:

• The ecological movements whose main program was the protection of nature and had both left as civil trailers and rather were successful in the country. The first regional Green parties in western Switzerland are assigned to this category.

• The alternatives, which had emerged from the '68 movement, strongly advocated left-wing positions and were successful, particularly in the cities. Their most important party were the " Progressive organizations Switzerland» ( POCH ) of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Formation

The first Green party in Switzerland was founded in 1971 in Neuchâtel, opponents of a highway project, which were therefore withdrawn from established parties. Your name was Mouvement populaire pour l' environnement (MPE ) (People's Movement for the Environment). In the following decade produced in different places in Switzerland related parties. 1979 moved to the Vaudois Daniel Brélaz, now Mayor of Lausanne, for the first time a Green in the National Council.

To a veritable wave of foundations of local green, ecological and alternative parties took place in the 1980s in which the two groups mentioned above for the first time the "green" as part of a unified movement were perceived. The differences between " cucumber " (ecology is the main program, social issues more in the background ) and " melons " ( green outside, red inside: more socio-political and less environmental commitment ), however, were still considerable. These two directions were also reflected in the two founded in 1983, national umbrella organizations, the Federation of Green Parties of Switzerland (later Green Party of Switzerland, GPS) and the Green Alternative Switzerland (GRAS, later Green alliance of Switzerland, GBS). These two groups competed in the 1980s, before the beginning of the 1990s permeated the GPS, which aligned themselves with most remaining green alternatives. This history, which ran from the bottom up, from local to national party formations, also explains the partially divergent behalf of the Greens cantonal parties.

The 1990s

Achieved in 1991, the Greens her up to this point the best result with a vote share of 6.1% and 14 seats in the National Council. The reason is mainly to be found in the aftermath of the 80 environmental debate. On this success, however, was followed by a prolonged crisis that began in 1992 with the vote on the EEA, which split the Switzerland, but also the Green Party. As later in the referendum formed within the party, a rift: The majority of the German Swiss countryside feared negative ecological consequences and less participation rights for the people, while the Greens in French-speaking Switzerland, the defects accepted ( from green view) because they approach the was more important to the EU. Add the following to the EEA vote discussions, the majority of the Greens called for an accession of Switzerland to the EU.

With the EEA vote, a shift in the focus recorded in the political debates from: Ecological issues were out of fashion, for it marked the question of Europe and social problems (due to the recession at that time ) the image. The consequence of this development was the electoral defeat of 1995 ( 5.0 % of the votes respectively. 8 seats), after the party by many observers, including the then SP- President Petersboden man ( counted his party to election winners ), was declared dead. In the late 1990s, the share of the vote of the Greens stabilized in the parliamentary elections of 1999 their share of the vote remained stable, and they were even able to gain a seat.

The 2000s

The Swiss Parliament elections in 2003 the Greens rose sharply, reaching 7.6 percent; with 13 seats they gained only one seat less than in the record year 1991. In the media the previous summer heatwave was often held responsible for this success, but while speaking, that, according to surveys in 2003, the concern for the environment in Switzerland was as low as never since measurements began in 1980. reasons should therefore more attractive in the minds and have located (compared to SP) greater attractiveness for new left voters.

From 2001 to 2003 the Greens by Patrice Mugny and Ruth Genner were chaired jointly from 2004 to 2008 was Ruth Genner sole President, Vice- President was the Geneva National Ueli Leuenberger. From April 2008 to April 2012 Ueli Leuenberger was president, Franziska Teuscher and Aline Trede shared the vice-presidency. Since April 2012, the Bureau consists of Adèle Thorens and Regula Rytz. The new four-member Vice - Presidency consists of Josef Lang, Bastien Girod, Robert Cramer and Irène Kälin.

The four years between 2003 and 2007 were marked by strong gains of the Greens in cantonal and municipal elections, during which the Greens could more than double their seats in cantonal governments. The cleavage of the Green Liberals in two cantons clouded this picture only slightly.

This development reached its climax in the Swiss Parliament elections in 2007. The Greens expanded their share of the vote from 9.6% and achieved the best result in its history; they increased in the National their seat number to 20 this result to which the climate debate, this time had no doubt contributed ( for the first time since 1988, the environment is again called the Worry Barometer as the main concern of the Swiss population ), provides the best performance by a "small" (not to the current governing parties belonging ) party since the introduction of proportional representation electoral law in 1919 dar. in these elections, the Greens also achieved a first-time entry into the Senate, this is equivalent with two seats in the cantons of Vaud and Geneva.