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| Founded | 8 October 1913; 112 years ago (1913-10-08) |
| Dissolved | 1 January 2009; 16 years ago (2009-01-01) |
| Merged into | FDP.The Liberals |
| Headquarters | Spitalgasse 32, Case postale 7107 3001Bern |
| Ideology | Liberalism (Switzerland) Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European affiliation | European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Colours | Blue |
TheLiberal Party of Switzerland (German:Liberale Partei der Schweiz) orSwiss Liberal Party (French:Parti libéral suisse;Italian:Partito Liberale Svizzero;Romansh:Partida liberala svizra) was apolitical party inSwitzerland witheconomically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the largerFree Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) to formFDP.The Liberals.
It was strongest in the Protestantcantons inRomandy, particularly inGeneva,Vaud andNeuchâtel. In contrast, the ideologically similar FDP was successful nationwide. The Liberal Party was a member ofLiberal International.
Founded in 1913, the Liberal Party initially had sections inZürich,Schaffhausen,Fribourg,Grisons, andBern, in addition to Romandy.[1] However, most of its sections were dissolved during theFirst World War, and by 1919 the party was confined to four cantons (Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel andBasel-City).[1] In the 1960s, the Liberal Party tried to expand its influence beyond the four cantons, renaming itself the "Liberal-Democratic Union" from 1961 to 1977 in order to attract members from other regions.[1] Although, since 1976, aValais section had occupied a small place in the cantonal government, the party performed poorly inBasel-Country, Fribourg, Bern, Zurich.[1] For many years it was the largest party not represented in theFederal Council.[1]Gustave Ador, in office from 1917 to 1919, was the Liberal Party's only federal councilor.[1]
The party formed a parliamentary group with theEvangelical People's Party from 1971 to 1979.[1] After cooperating with moderate elements of theSwiss People's Party since 2000, the Liberal Party had a joint slate with theFree Democratic Party in the2003 federal election.[1] The party was the junior partner of the faction, with only 2.2% of the vote compared with the FDP's 17.3%. However, in their strongholds of the cantons ofRomandy and the canton ofBasel-City, they were particularly successful. Their best performance was inGeneva, where they received 16.8% of the vote. It won four seats (out of 200) in theNational Council, but was represented in neither theCouncil of States nor in the Federal Council, the government's cabinet.
After the election, the Liberals and FDP founded a common caucus in theFederal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding theRadical and Liberal Union.[2] They finally merged on 1 January 2009 with theFree Democratic Party of Switzerland to form the "FDP.The Liberals".
The Liberal Party was committed tofederalism andanti-statism, emphasizing individual responsibility.[1] While it was in favor of support for agriculture, the party believed that regional planning should not interfere with municipal autonomy or private property.[1] Its supporters were mainly drawn from the agricultural sector (especiallywinegrowers), industrial entrepreneurs, and theintelligentsia.[1] The party's leaders often came from theZofingenstudent society and were close to employers' organisations.[1] Historically, it also had a strongProtestant influence.[1]
The Liberal Party often adopted different positions from other upper-class political parties: it did not support the creation ofold-age and survivors insurance, and was the only party to oppose the establishment of theSwiss National Day in 1993.[1] While it campaigned against Switzerland's accession to theUnited Nations in a1986 referendum, the party waspro-European, supporting a federal resolution on theEuropean Economic Area in a1992 referendum and the opening of negotiations forEuropean Community (and laterEuropean Union) membership.[1]
From 1919 to 1987, the number of Federal Assembly seats held by the Liberal Party varied between five and ten in the National Council and between one and three in the Council of States.[1] The party then experienced a period of favorable conditions before suffering a series of setbacks.[1] Its representation at the Federal Assembly fell from thirteen to four seats between 1991 and 2003.[1]
| Election year | % of overall vote | # of seats won | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 3,8 | 9 / 189 | new |
| 1922 | 4,0 | 10 / 198 |  1 |
| 1925 | 3,0 | 7 / 198 |  3 |
| 1928 | 3,0 | 6 / 198 | 1 |
| 1931 | 2,8 | 6 / 187 |  |
| 1935 | 3,3 | 6 / 187 | |
| 1939 | 1,7 | 6 / 187 | |
| 1943 | 3,2 | 8 / 194 | 2 |
| 1947 | 3,2 | 7 / 194 | 1 |
| 1951 | 2,6 | 5 / 196 | 2 |
| 1955 | 2,2 | 5 / 196 | |
| 1959 | 2,3 | 5 / 196 | |
| 1963 | 2,2 | 6 / 200 | 1 |
| 1967 | 2,3 | 6 / 200 | |
| 1971 | 2,2 | 6 / 200 | |
| 1975 | 2,4 | 6 / 200 | |
| 1979 | 2,8 | 8 / 200 | 2 |
| 1983 | 2,8 | 8 / 200 | |
| 1987 | 2,7 | 9 / 200 | 1 |
| 1991 | 3,0 | 10 / 200 | 1 |
| 1995 | 2,7 | 7 / 200 | 3 |
| 1999 | 2,3 | 6 / 200 | 1 |
| 2003 | 2,2 | 4 / 200 | 2 |
| 2007 | 1,9 | 4 / 200 | |
| Source:Federal Statistical Office[1] | |||
| National Council (200 seats) |
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| Council of States (46 seats) |
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