 | |
| President | Lisa Mazzone |
| Founded | 28 May 1983; 42 years ago (1983-05-28) |
| Headquarters | Waisenhausplatz 21, 3011Bern |
| Membership(2022) | 13,000[1] |
| Ideology | Green politics |
| Political position | Centre-left toleft-wing |
| European affiliation | European Green Party |
| International affiliation | Global Greens |
| Colours | Green |
| Federal Council | 0 / 7 |
| Council of States | 3 / 46 |
| National Council | 23 / 200 |
| Cantonal executives | 7 / 154 |
| Cantonal legislatures | 249 / 2,544 |
| Website | |
| gruene verts verditicino | |
TheGreen Party of Switzerland (German:GRÜNE Schweiz;French:Les VERT-E-S suisses;Italian:VERDI svizzeri;Romansh:VERDA svizra)[2] is agreenpolitical party inSwitzerland.[3][4] It is the fifth-largest party in theNational Council of Switzerland and the largest party that is not represented on theFederal Council.[5]
The firstGreen party in Switzerland,MPE, was founded as a local party in 1971 in the town ofNeuchâtel. In 1979,Daniel Brélaz was elected to theNational Council as the first Green MP on the national level (in Switzerland and in the world). Local and regional Green parties and organisations were founded in many different towns andcantons in the following years.
In 1983, two different national green party federations were created: in May, diverse local green groups came together in Fribourg to form theFederation of Green Parties of Switzerland, and in June, some left-alternative groups formed theGreen Alternative Party of Switzerland in Bern. In 1990, an attempt to combine these organisations failed. Afterward, some of the member groups from theGreen Alternative Party joined theFederation of Green Parties which has become thede facto national Green party. In 1993, theFederation of Green Parties changed its name to theGreen Party of Switzerland.[6]
In 1986, the first two Green members of a cantonal government became members of theRegierungsrat of Bern.
In 1987, the Green Party of Switzerland joined theEuropean Federation of Green Parties.
In the 1990s, members of the Green Party became town mayors, members of the high court, and even the president of a cantonal government (Verena Diener in 1999).
In 2007, the centrist wing of the party split away and formed theGreen Liberal Party of Switzerland.
With the rise of right-wing and populist attitudes, the Greens continued to lose support in Switzerland. In the2023 federal election, they came in fifth place.[7]
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The party has been described as beingcentre-left[8][9] toleft-wing.[8][10] The traditional emphases of the party's policies lie inenvironmentalism and green means of transportation. In terms of foreign policy, the greens set out on the course of openness andpacifism. In economic policy, the Greens arecentre-left. The majority of Greens support an accession ofSwitzerland to theEuropean Union.[11] In immigration policy, the greens support further integration initiatives for immigrants. The Greens support measures to increase energy efficiency, opposenuclear power, and support raising energy and fuel prices. According to their policy, the resulting revenues should be allocated tosocial security spending.
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of National Council seats won | +/- | # of Council of States seats won | +/- | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 11,583 | 0.6 | 1 / 200 | 0 / 46 | |||
| 1983 | 37,079 | 1.9 | 3 / 200 |  2 | 0 / 46 | ||
| 1987 | 94,378 | 4.9 | 9 / 200 | 6 | 0 / 46 | ||
| 1991 | 124,149 | 6.1 | 14 / 200 | 5 | 0 / 46 | ||
| 1995 | 96,069 | 5.0 | 8 / 200 |  6 | 0 / 46 | ||
| 1999 | 96,807 | 5.0 | 8 / 200 |  0 | 0 / 46 | ||
| 2003 | 156,226 | 7.4 | 13 / 200 | 5 | 0 / 46 | ||
| 2007 | 222,206 | 9.6 | 20 / 200 | 7 | 2 / 46 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 205,984 | 8.4 | 15 / 200 | 5 | 2 / 46 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 177,938 | 7.1 | 11 / 200 | 4 | 1 / 46 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 319,988 | 13.2 | 28 / 200 | 17 | 5 / 46 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 249,891 | 9.78 | 23 / 200 | 5 | 3 / 46 | 2 |
On the national level, in 2003 the Green Party was not represented in theCouncil of States orFederal Council. In 2007, two Green Party members were elected to the Council of States.[12]
By 2005, the party held 3.8 per cent of the seats in the Swisscantonal executive governments and 6.9 per cent in the Swisscantonal parliaments (index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats). In 2007, the Green Party was represented in the governments of the cantonsBern,Basel-City,Geneva (two ministers),Neuchâtel,Nidwalden,Vaud,Zug (two ministers) andZurich.[13]
| Canton | 1971 | 1975 | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | * | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 4.9 | 6.1 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 7.4 | 9.6 | 8.4 | 7.1 | 13.2 | 9.8 |
| Zurich | *a | * | 1.3 | 4.2 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 4.1 | 8.5 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 6.9 | 14.1 | 9.9 |
| Berne | * | * | * | * | 9.2 | 9.9 | 5.9 | 7.5 | 9.3 | 12.9 | 9.4 | 8.5 | 13.6 | 10.8 |
| Lucerne | * | * | * | * | * | 9.3 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 9.8 | 9.5 | 8.3 | 7.1 | 12.2 | 8.1 |
| Uri | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 30.6 | * | * | 26.3 | * | * |
| Schwyz | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 3.4 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 2.7 |
| Obwalden | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * |
| Nidwalden | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 19.6 | * | * | * |
| Glarus | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 2.7 | * |
| Zug | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 17.0 | 15.4 | 7.2 | 19.2 | 16.2 |
| Fribourg | * | * | * | * | 4.2 | * | 2.3 | * | 4.0 | 6.3 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 12.5 | 11.8 |
| Solothurn | * | * | * | * | * | 7.3 | 5.8 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 7.5 | 5.6 | 11.4 | 9.3 |
| Basel-Stadt | * | * | * | * | 1.1 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 8.7 | 9.2 | 12.1 | 13.4 | 11.2 | 17.7 | 17.1 |
| Basel-Landschaft | * | * | * | 1.9 | 6.9 | 11.0 | 9.5 | 9.2 | 12.6 | 13.8 | 13.6 | 14.2 | 18.0 | 10.0 |
| Schaffhausen | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 3.4 | 6.8 | 4.8 |
| Appenzell A.Rh. | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 6.4 | * | * | * |
| Appenzell I.Rh. | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * |
| St. Gall | * | * | * | * | * | 6.2 | 4.9 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 5.7 | 10.5 | 8.7 |
| The Grisons | * | * | * | * | * | * | 3.5 | * | * | * | 2.2 | * | 5.5 | 5.2 |
| Aargau | * | * | * | * | * | 6.8 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 5.5 | 9.8 | 7.1 |
| Thurgau | * | * | * | 5.9 | 10.8 | 9.0 | 9.3 | 6.2 | 7.9 | 10.2 | 7.0 | 5.4 | 10.6 | 8.5 |
| Ticino | * | * | * | * | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 3.5 | 12.1 | 9.1 |
| Vaud | * | 1.0 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 8.4 | 6.3 | 4.1 | 7.1 | 11.3 | 14.3 | 11.6 | 11.3 | 19.7 | 13.5 |
| Valais | * | * | * | * | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 10.6 | 8.4 |
| Neuchâtel | * | * | * | 7.4 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 5.9 | 14.7 | 13.8 | 9.4 | 11.7 | 9.3 | 20.8 | 16.5 |
| Geneva | * | * | * | 7.6 | 11.5 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 8.2 | 11.2 | 16.4 | 14.0 | 11.5 | 24.6 | 15.4 |
| Jura | b | b | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 11.0 | 7.3 | 15.6 | 11.1 |
This is an incomplete list of the presidents of the Green Party since 1990:[15]
| National Council (200 seats) |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council of States (46 seats) |
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| Other parties | |||||
