Ticino League | |
|---|---|
 | |
| German name | Liga der Tessiner |
| French name | Ligue des Tessinois |
| Italian name | Lega dei Ticinesi |
| President | Norman Gobbi[1] |
| Founded | 17 January 1991 |
| Headquarters | Via Monte Boglia 3, CH-6900Lugano |
| Youth wing | Movimento Giovani Leghisti |
| Membership(2015) | 1,500[2] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing[6][7] |
| Colours | Blue, Red |
| National Council | 1 / 200 |
| Council of States | 0 / 46 |
| Cantonal Executives | 2 / 5 [a] |
| Cantonal legislatures | 14 / 90 [b] |
| Website | |
| lega-dei-ticinesi.ch | |
Swiss Federal Council Federal Chancellor Federal Assembly Council of States (members) National Council (members) Voting | |
TheTicino League (Italian:Lega dei Ticinesi) is aregionalist,[8]national-conservativepolitical party in Switzerland active in thecanton ofTicino.
The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneurGiuliano Bignasca and journalistFlavio Maspoli.[5] After some public campaigning in the Sunday newspaperIl Mattino della Domenica [it] against political power and the use of public money, Bignasca and Maspoli founded the Ticino League to continue the fight at the political level. Bignasca (1945–2013) was the League's "president for life".
The League is one of the four major parties in the canton, alongside theLiberal Radical Party (PLR), theDemocratic People's Party (PPD), and theSwiss Socialist Party (PS). Since 1991, the party has been represented in theNational Council and the five-member cantonal executive of Ticino (the Council of State,Consiglio di Stato) with two seats. In the 90-seat Ticino legislature (the Grand Council,Gran Consiglio), the party has 18 seats.
At the2011 federal election, the party won 0.8% of the national popular vote and secured two out of 200 seats in theNational Council (the first chamber of the Swiss parliament), doubling their representation compared to the single seat they held in 2007 with 0.5% of the vote.[9] In the2015 election, the Ticino League slightly increased its share of the national vote to 1.0% and kept its two seats in parliament.[10] The party is not represented in theCouncil of States nor on theFederal Council.
The2019 Swiss federal election cost the League one of its representatives in the National Council, asRoberta Pantani [de] was unable to hold her seat.Lorenzo Quadri was re-elected as the League’s sole representative in the Parliament.[11] The League formed an electoral list with theSwiss People's Party (SVP) for the2023 Swiss federal election;[12] the SVP was seen as gaining support at the League's expense.[13][14]
In theFederal Assembly, the League sits with theSwiss People's Party (UDC), and commentators see it as theSwiss Italian equivalent of the UDC[15][16] (although the UDC has a cantonal section, as well as seats in theGrand Council of Ticino). A more notable political position of the League is its support for banning theBurqa, which it achieved in 2015.[15]
The League defines itself as neither a left nor a right-wing party, but is generally characterised as aright-wing populist. It is also stronglyeurosceptic, supporting Swiss sovereignty and reduced immigration.[17] It also argues for the protection of Swiss and Ticino national identity, wanting a more friendly environment for small businesses and policies to protect the elderly and more vulnerable members of society.[18]
Although ideologically close to the UDC, the League has taken a more moderate posture on gay rights and voted in favour of theMarriage For All bill, which opened the process for the legalization ofsame-sex marriage in Switzerland. The party took a neutral stance during the2021 Swiss same-sex marriage referendum.[19]
The League supports continued Ticino membership in Switzerland.[16] However, it supports the project ofInsubria[16] and has some ties with the regional andfederalist northern Italian rightist partyLega Nord.[16][better source needed]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 28,290 | 1.4% (#11) | 2 / 200 | New |
| 1995 | 17,940 | 0.9% (#14) | 1 / 200 |  1 |
| 1999 | 17,118 | 0.9% (#11) | 2 / 200 |  1 |
| 2003 | 7,304 | 0.4% (#14) | 1 / 200 | 1 |
| 2007 | 13,031 | 0.6% (#11) | 1 / 200 |  0 |
| 2011 | 19,657 | 0.8% (#9) | 2 / 200 | 1 |
| 2015 | 24,713 | 1.0% (#10) | 2 / 200 | 0 |
| 2019 | 18,187 | 0.8% (#12) | 1 / 200 | 1 |
| 2023 | 14,160 | 0.6% (#10) | 1 / 200 | 0 |
| National Council (200 seats) |
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| Council of States (46 seats) |
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| Other parties | |||||
