 | |
| Formation | 13 October 2014 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Dominik Elser Flavia Kleiner |
| Type | Political movement |
| Purpose | Liberalism Pro-Europeanism |
| Headquarters | Zürich |
Region served | Switzerland |
Membership | 1,100 members (2017) |
Official language | German French Italian |
Co-Presidents | Stefan Manser-Egli Sanija Ameti |
| Website | operation-libero.ch/ |
Operation Libero is a liberal transpartisan political movement in Switzerland.
Operation Libero was launched in the aftermath of the acceptance of the Swiss immigration referendum in October 2014 by members of the Swiss Forum on Foreign Policy (foraus), a Zürich-based think tank. It aims to promote an open-minded, multicultural and forward-looking Switzerland, as opposed to the national conservative and isolationist approach promoted by the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) and the Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (AUNS/ASIN/ASNI). [1]
In February 2016, Operation Libero emerged as the driving force in the campaign against the referendum on the popular initiative on the effective expulsion of foreign criminals promoted by the SVP/UDC, [2] which was eventually rejected thanks to a large mobilisation in metropolitan areas. The innovative and effective campaigning approach raised an unprecedented attention by domestic and foreign media. [3] [4] Other successful campaigns were run on referendums related to marriage equality (February 2016), [5] asylum regulations (June 2016), [6] [7] [8] and easier naturalisation for third-generation immigrants (February 2017). [9] [10] [11]
At the end of August 2022, Operation Libero, together with La Suisse en Europe, Suisseculture, Volt Switzerland, the Association of Swiss Student Bodies (VSS) and the Green Party of Switzerland, founded the Europe Initiative, a civil society alliance aimed at obliging the Federal Council to open negotiations with the EU. [12]
Operation Libero is structured as a national association with regional sections in Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zürich.
The head office is located in the Langstrasse district in Zürich.
Operation Libero defines itself as a liberal transpartisan political movement. It stands for "an upheaval in the Swiss political landscape" and promotes the recognition interdependences at global and European level, freedom, progress and the rule of law. [13] Its key position are the defence and promotion of free movement of persons between Switzerland and the European Union, a liberal immigration policy for third country nationals, citizenship rights based on residence, a close and constructive relationship with the European Union including an open discussion about membership, as well as an equal treatment of all forms of relationships including the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Its liberal approach is inspired by the principles of egalitarian justice, multicultural citizenship and constitutional patriotism. Its agenda can be described as social liberal and pro-European.
Operation libero does not participate in political elections, but it is involved in referendum campaigns. It has a strong presence in social media through a team of "online warriors," [14] it organises activities at local level through its regional branches, and it is regularly invited at talkshows in the national talk shows.
It is funded through membership fees and targeted crowdfunding campaigns. [15]
The government of Switzerland is a federal state with direct democracy.
Christoph Wolfram Blocher is a Swiss industrialist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2004 to 2007. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he headed the Federal Department of Justice and Police. As an industrialist, he became wealthy as CEO and majority shareholder in the EMS-Chemie corporation, now run by his daughter, Magdalena Martullo-Blocher.
The Swiss People's Party, also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre, is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 62 members of the National Council and 6 of the Council of States.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Switzerland since 1 July 2022. Legislation to open marriage to same-sex couples passed the Swiss Parliament in December 2020. The law was challenged in a referendum on 26 September 2021 by opponents of same-sex marriage and was approved with the support of 64% of voters and a majority in all 26 cantons. The law went into force on 1 July 2022. A provision of the law permitting same-sex marriages performed abroad to be recognised in Switzerland took effect on 1 January 2022. Switzerland was the seventeenth country in Europe and the 30th in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry.
TX Group AG is a media company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Through a portfolio of daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, as well as own printing facilities, it is the largest media group in the country. Since 2000, Tamedia has been listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007. For the 48th legislative term of the federal parliament (2007–2011), voters in 26 cantons elected all 200 members of the National Council as well as 43 out of 46 members of the Council of States. The other three members of the Council of States for that term of service were elected at an earlier date.
Jestetten is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
Ten referendums were held in Switzerland during 2008. The first two were held on 24 February on business tax reform and aircraft noise. A further three were held on 1 June on public information campaigns, naturalisation and health reform. The final five were held on 30 November on legalising cannabis, making the pension age flexible, restricting the right of appeal of associations against construction projects, amending the constitutional article on narcotics and eliminating the statute of limitations with respect to pornographic crimes against children.
The Green Liberal Party of Switzerland, Italian: Partito verde liberale, PVL), abbreviated to GLP, is a centrist green-liberal political party in Switzerland. Founded in 2007, the party holds eleven seats in the Federal Assembly as of the October 2023 election.
The territorial evolution of Switzerland occurred primarily with the acquisition of territory by the historical cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy and its close associates. This gradual expansion took place in two phases, the growth from the medieval Founding Cantons to the "Eight Cantons" during 1332–1353, and the expansion to the "Thirteen Cantons" of the Reformation period during 1481–1513.
Two by-elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held in Switzerland on 22 September 2010, after federal councillors Moritz Leuenberger (SP) and Hans-Rudolf Merz announced they would step down from the Federal Council towards the end of the year. The by-elections resulted in the elections of Simonetta Sommaruga from the SP and Johann Schneider-Ammann from the FDP, resulting in no change in the partisan composition of the council. It also resulted in the first majority of women on the Federal Council in its history, with Sommaruga joining Micheline Calmy-Rey, Doris Leuthard and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October. In eight cantons, not all seats were filled in the first round, and a second round was held on 11 November, 18 November, or 25 November.
Cédric Wermuth is a Swiss politician who currently serves on the National Council (Switzerland) for the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland since 2011. He currently also serves as co-president of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) along with Mattea Meyer. He has formerly served as president of the Young Socialists of Switzerland (JUSO) and also a former vice president of the SP.
In Switzerland, the federal popular initiative "against mass immigration" was a referendum that aimed to limit immigration through quotas, as it had been prior to the bilateral treaties between Switzerland and the European Union (EU) launched in 2002.
Martin Landolt is a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss National Council for the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP). From May 2012 to December 2020, he served as the President of the BDP.
Isabelle Moret is a Swiss politician who served as President of the National Council from 2019 to 2020. A member of FDP.The Liberals since its foundation in 2009, she first entered the National Council in 2006 as a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD). Moret is a resident of Yens-sur-Morges in the canton of Vaud.
OLAF was a satirical art activism project launched in 2010 by Andreas Heusser, Christoph Nüssli and Christoph Oeschger to subvert the Swiss right-wing populist party's campaign on the deportation initiative. The project consisted of the creation of the "Organization to solve the foreigner question" and series of actions and pranks performed by the fictitious representatives, Dr. Alois B. Stocher and his assistant George Klein.
Several federal referendums were held in Switzerland in 2020, with voting on 9 February, 27 September and 29 November. Voting was also planned for 17 May, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2019 Zürich cantonal elections were held on 24 March 2019, to elect the seven members of the cantonal Executive Council and the 180 members of the Cantonal Council. All five incumbents running were re-elected to the Executive Council, as well as green candidate Martin Neukom and Swiss People's Party candidate Natalie Rickli.
Mauro Tuena is a Swiss businessman and politician. He currently serves as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party since 2015. Since 2020, Tuena is a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He previously served a brief period on the Cantonal Council of Zürich in 2015.
