Green Liberal Party of Switzerland

History

In 2004, two leading members of the Greens in Zurich, Verena Diener and Martin Bäumle, left the party citing its leftist tendencies and organisational concerns, and founded the Green Liberal Party of Zurich. The national party was founded on 19 July 2007 by four cantonal parties of the same name that had seceded from the Green Party. These branches were in Zurich, Basel-Landschaft, Bern, and St. Gallen.

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 three out of 200 seats. In Zurich, they won 7% of the vote and in St. Gallen they won 3.2%. One of these three had been a National Councillor for the Green Party in the previous Parliament. Success in the 2007 elections caused leaders to look to seriously compete for a seat on the Federal Council.

A month later, it won a seat in the Council of States, with Verena Diener 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.

At the 2011 federal election, the GLP was one of the big winners, increasing its vote share to 5.4%. It had stood in 11 cantons, getting between 2% and 10.3% of the vote.

The GLP was one of the leading political parties for legalising same-sex marriage in Switzerland, 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 créateurs d'avenir (creators of the future). Since April 2022, there are cantonal parties in all 26 cantons.

Ideology and platform

The party supports ending the use of nuclear energy in Switzerland and terminating any subsidies to nuclear power companies. At the same time, the GLP supports the promotion of green technologies and cleantech through tax credits as an economic opportunity. The party supports the criminalization of the corporal punishment of children.

On economic and fiscal matters the GLP is more centre-right. It supports Switzerland maintaining a balanced fiscal budget and continued tax competition between the Swiss cantons. It also supports stronger regulation of large Swiss banks such as UBS, including liquidity requirements.

The Green Liberals support closer EU-Swiss relations and on this question are considered ideologically closer to the Social Democrats and Green Party than to The Liberals or Swiss People's Party because they support Switzerland's accession to the European Economic Area. However, unlike the Swiss left the GLP support lifting the Swiss ban on exporting weapons to Ukraine. After the October 7 Attacks in Israel, the federal branch of the Green Liberals also expressed support for Israel declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation in a press release, as well as for stricter regulation of Swiss financial aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Elected representatives

Council of States

• Tiana Angelina Moser (since 2023)

National Council

2023-2027 legislature:

• Martin Bäumle
• Kathrin Bertschy
• Beat Flach
• Jürg Grossen
• Patrick Hässig
• Katja Christ
• Corina Gredig
• (until 2025)
• Barbara Schaffner
• Céline Weber
• Fabienne Stämpfli (since 2025)
• Matthias Samuel Jauslin (since 2025)

Election results

National Council

References

References

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5. "Eckdaten Nationalrat 2011 / 2007". [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland).
6. Bundesamt für Statistik. "Nationalratswahlen: Übersicht Schweiz".
7. Federal Chancellery, Communication Support. (2016). "The Swiss Confederation – a brief guide". Swiss Confederation.
8. (2023-04-17). "Analyse der Parolen – Schweizer Parteien rücken nach links".
9. "Grünliberale Partei – smartmap".
10. Green Liberal Party. "What we stand for".
11. "Parliamentary groups of the 49th legislative period 2011 - 2015". [[Federal Assembly of Switzerland]].
12. (May 2012). "Switzerland's Green Liberal Party: a new party model for the environment?". [[Environmental Politics (journal).
13. (December 2008). "Switzerland". [[European Journal of Political Research]].
14. (December 2008). "The Swiss federal elections of 2007". Electoral Studies.
15. "Parteipolitische Zusammensetzung des Ständerates nach den Wahlen". [[Federal Assembly of Switzerland]].
16. "Parliamentary groups of the 48th legislative period 2007-2011". [[Federal Assembly of Switzerland]].
17. "Klimaschutz & Energie".
18. "Mit Mut zur Lösung gegen die Blockadepolitik".
19. "Gewaltfreie Erziehung".
20. "Wirtschaft & Finanzen".
21. "Vorlage zur Änderung des Bankengesetzes".
22. "Wiederausfuhr von Rüstungsgütern: Wenn der Bundesrat sich weigert, muss das Parlament übernehmen".
23. "Hamas ist eine terroristische Organisation".