Swiss Party of Labour

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Swiss Party of Labour
  • Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz (German)
  • Parti Suisse du Travail–Parti Ouvrier et Populaire (French)
  • Partito Svizzero del Lavoro–Partito Operaio e Popolare (Italian)
  • Partida Svizra da la Lavur (Romansh)
President Norberto Crivelli
Founded14 October 1944
Preceded by Communist Party of Switzerland
Swiss Socialist Federation
HeadquartersTurmweg 24 3013, Bern
Youth wing Communist Youth Switzerland [1]
Membership1,000+ [2]
Ideology
Political position Left-wing [10] to far-left [14]
European affiliation Party of the European Left
Colours  Red
National Council
0 / 200
Council of States
0 / 46
Cantonal legislatures
13 / 2,559
Website

The Swiss Party of Labour (German : Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz; French : Parti Suisse du Travail – Parti Ouvrier et Populaire; Italian : Partito Svizzero del Lavoro – Partito Operaio e Popolare; Romansh : Partida svizra da la lavur) is a communist party [3] in Switzerland.

Contents

History

The party was founded in 1944 by the illegal Communist Party of Switzerland. On 21 May, the constituent conference of the Basel Federation of the party was held. On 14–15 October the same year, the first Party Congress of the party was held in Zürich, with Léon Nicole elected to the role of President and Karl Hofmaier to General Secretary. On 6–7 October 1945, the Second Congress was held in Geneva. By this time the party had 20 000 members. On 30 November to 1 December, the 3rd Congress was held in Zürich. On 27 July a Swiss Party Conference was held in Bern, in which Karl Hofmaier was removed from his position as a result of a financial scandal. In the national elections of 1947 the party received 5.1% of the vote.

Poster for the 2006 elections to the Grand Council of Bern. Swiss Labour Party 2006 Bern Election Poster.jpg
Poster for the 2006 elections to the Grand Council of Bern.

On 4–6 July 1949, the 4th Congress was held, during which steps to strengthen the organization as a Cadre Party were taken. As a result of this Congress, Edgar Woog was elected General Secretary. In 1950, the party worked intensively for the Stockholm Appeal, collecting 260 000 signatures from the Swiss population. From 31 May to 2 June 1952, the 5th Congress was held in Geneva. On 7 December, the Central Committee expelled Léon Nicole from the party. On 28–30 May, the 6th Congress was held in Geneva.

The 7th Congress was held in Geneva from 16–18 May 1959. A new party programme approved with the concept of antimonopolistic unity, termed the "Swiss Road to Socialism" (inspired by the similar programme of the Communist Party of Great Britain). The 8th Congress was held in Geneva from 16 to 18 May 1964. As of 2015, the party had no seats in the Swiss cantonal councils and was not represented in any of the 26 cantonal governments. [15]

Logo of the party in Italian. Logo of Swiss Party of Labour - Italian.jpg
Logo of the party in Italian.

The XXII Congress of the section of the Ticino, held on 10 November 2013, marked the unification of the organs partisan Ticino[ clarify ] with those of the Italian Grisons, creating the Communist Party of Southern Switzerland, which has stopped the collaboration with the Swiss Party of Labour after 2014; it became the Communist Party, which is not active on a national level.

2007 national elections

Holding two seats in the Swiss National Council (the lower chamber of the Swiss parliament) going into the 2007 elections, the party stood candidates in the cantons of Zürich, Vaud, Geneva and Ticino on their own; in Neuchâtel the candidate appeared on a joint list with Solidarity. While the share of the vote in 2007 was similar to the party's 2003 results (0.7%), the party lost the seat held by Josef Zisyadis while retaining the seat held by Marianne Huguenin. [16] However, on 1 November 2007 Huguenin announced her resignation from the National Council to focus on her position as mayor of Renens, Vaud, leaving Zisyadis to take the Party's seat in the National Council representing Vaud. [17]

Election results

National Council

ElectionVotes %Seats+/–
1947 49,3535.0
7 / 194
New
1951 25,6592.7
5 / 196
Decrease2.svg 2
1955 25,0602.6
4 / 196
Decrease2.svg 1
1959 26,3462.7
1 / 196
Decrease2.svg 3
1963 21,0882.2
4 / 200
Increase2.svg 3
1967 28,7232.9
5 / 200
Increase2.svg 1
1971 51,3412.6
5 / 200
Steady2.svg 0
1975 45,7992.4
4 / 200
Decrease2.svg 1
1979 38,1872.1
3 / 200
Decrease2.svg 1
1983 17,4880.9
1 / 200
Decrease2.svg 2
1987 15,5280.8
1 / 200
Steady2.svg 0
1991 15,8710.8
2 / 200
Increase2.svg 1
1995 22,8501.18
3 / 200
Increase2.svg 1
1999 18,5691.0
2 / 200
Decrease2.svg 1
2003 14,5950.68
2 / 200
Steady2.svg 0
2007 17,2180.74
1 / 200
Decrease2.svg 1
2011 21,4820.54
0 / 200
Decrease2.svg 1
2015 21,5740.4
1 / 200
Increase2.svg 1
2019 25,4270.6
1 / 200
Steady2.svg 0
2023 18,4350.7
0 / 200
Decrease2.svg 1

Cantonal-level

Canton1971197519791983198719911995199920032007201120152019
PdA vote percentage, federal elections 1971–2019 [18]
Switzerland2.62.42.10.90.80.81.21.00.70.70.50.40.6
Zürich1.61.11.20.30.3* a ***0.20.20.20.3
Bern*0.60.3**0.2****0.30.50.6
Fribourg******0.9******
Solothurn**1.0*0.3********
Basel-Stadt6.14.64.72.31.91.41.3******
Basel-Landschaft*1.81.0**********
St. Gallen*0.4***********
Ticino2.83.62.7*1.20.71.31.3*1.31.20.50.8
Vaud12.210.79.34.13.54.28.97.86.74.72.12.9 b 1.9
Valais******0.9******
Neuchâtel13.79.87.74.23.85.27.16.93.09.210.412.212.1
Genève20.818.019.99.58.77.89.48.72.71.91.36.1 b 1.2
Jura c b *********3.8*
1. ^a * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.
2. ^b Combined result for PdA and Solidarity.
3. ^c Part of the Canton of Bern until 1979.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Party of Switzerland</span> Political party in Switzerland

The Liberal Party of Switzerland or Swiss Liberal Party was a political party in Switzerland with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) to form FDP.The Liberals.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josef Zisyadis</span> Swiss politician

Josef Zisyadis is a Swiss politician, a member of the Swiss Party of Labour, and of the Alternative Left . Born to Greek parents in Istanbul, and after a sojourn in Athens (1958–1962), he moved to Switzerland with his family in 1962, aged seven, and was later naturalized as citizen of Lausanne. He studied theology in Lausanne, graduating in 1979. During 1979-1983 he worked as pastor in the Mission populaire évangélique in Paris, returning to Lausanne in 1983, where he joined the Parti Ouvrier Populaire of Vaud. During 1994–1996, he acted as secretary of the Party of Labour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ rights in Switzerland</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Switzerland are some of the most progressive by world standards. Social attitudes and the legal situation have liberalised at an increasing pace since the 1940s, in parallel to the situation in Europe and the Western world more generally. Legislation providing for same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, and IVF access was accepted by 64% of voters in a referendum on 26 September 2021, and entered into force on 1 July 2022.

The Communist Party of Switzerland or Swiss Communist Party was a communist party in Switzerland between 1921 and 1944. It was the Swiss section of the Communist International (Comintern).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Léon Nicole</span> Swiss politician, journalist, and trade unionist

Léon Nicole was a prominent trade unionist, journalist, politician and member of the Grand Council of Geneva and the Swiss National Council. In 1933, he was a member of the first Cantonal government in Switzerland with a Socialist majority and the first socialist ever elected to lead a Canton. He was elected the first President of the Swiss Party of Labour in 1944. In 1952 he was expelled from the Party of Labour because, over the opposition of most of the party's membership, he opposed Swiss neutrality on the grounds of the Zhdanov doctrine. He accused his former party of Titoism, and in 1954 set up a rival communist party called the Progressive Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marianne Huguenin</span> Swiss politician

Marianne Huguenin is a former Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Party of Labour, who was elected to the Swiss National Council representing the Canton of Vaud from 2003 to 2007. A lesbian, she was the first openly gay politician in French-speaking Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulvio Pelli</span> Swiss politician (born 1951)

Fulvio Pelli is a Swiss politician. He was the last president of the Free Democratic Party prior to its merger with the Liberal Party of Switzerland. After the merger of the two parties, he served as the first president of FDP and the Liberals from 2009 to 2012. Pelli was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1995 to 2014. He served in the communal legislature of Lugano from 1980 to 1990 and in the Grand Council of Ticino from 1983 to 1995.

The Swiss Communist Organization was a Maoist-oriented communist organization in Switzerland. The organization was founded on December 10, 1978, through the merger of three groups:

Le Travail and Le Droit du Peuple were two French language socialist daily newspapers in Switzerland. Le Travail was founded in 1922 in Geneva. Le Droit du Peuple began publishing in Vaud on 4 May 1917 as a successor of Le Grutléen. It became a daily newspaper on 1 April 1919. In 1925 the two newspapers signed a cooperation treaty, and whilst maintaining separate identities and local pages the two newspapers would share national and international articles. After the association of the two newspapers, Léon Nicole served as their editor. Politically Nicole had a hegemonic influence over the newspapers.

The Swiss Socialist Federation was a political party in Switzerland.

Jakob Lechleiter was a Swiss politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Swiss federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 18 October 2015 for the National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States, with runoff elections to the Council of States being held in various cantons until 22 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignazio Cassis</span> Swiss Federal Councillor since 2017

Ignazio Daniele Giovanni Cassis is a Swiss physician and politician who has been a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1 November 2017. A member of FDP.The Liberals, Cassis was elected to the Federal Council on 20 September 2017 following the resignation of Didier Burkhalter. He has headed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs since he took office. On 8 December 2021, Cassis was elected President of the Swiss Confederation for 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Swiss federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 20 October 2019 to elect all members of both houses of the Federal Assembly. This was followed by the 2019 election to the Swiss Federal Council, the federal executive, by the United Federal Assembly.

The Communist Party is a political party mostly active in Southern Switzerland, Ticino and Grisons. From October 1944 until 2007, it acted as the Ticino section of the Swiss Party of Labour. In 2007, it decided to change its name to the Communist Party. In 2014, the party severed its ties with the Party of Labour. Its headquarters are in Locarno, Ticino.

Anarchism in Switzerland appeared, as a political current, within the Jura Federation of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), under the influence of Mikhail Bakunin and Swiss libertarian activists such as James Guillaume and Adhémar Schwitzguébel. Swiss anarchism subsequently evolved alongside the nascent social democratic movement and participated in the local opposition to fascism during the interwar period. The contemporary Swiss anarchist movement then grew into a number of militant groups, libertarian socialist organizations and squats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Swiss Federal Council election</span>

A by-election to the Swiss Federal Council was held on 20 September 2017, after federal councillor Didier Burkhalter (FDP-NE) announced he would leave the Council effective 31 October 2017. The by-election resulted in the election of Ignazio Cassis (FDP-TI), resulting in no change in the partisan composition of the council.

The federal popular initiative "For the Expulsion of Criminal Foreigners," also known as the "expulsion initiative," is a Swiss popular initiative that was approved on November 28, 2010.

References

  1. "Statute of the Communist Youth Switzerland" (in German). KJS. 2021-10-23.
  2. "PST-POP / Parti Suisse du Travail - Parti Ouvrier Populaire". PST-POP.
  3. 1 2 3 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Switzerland". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  4. Ares, Macarena; van Ditmars, Mathilde M. (April 2023). "Intergenerational Social Mobility, Political Socialization and Support for the Left under Post-industrial Realignment". British Journal of Political Science. 53 (2): 536–554. doi: 10.1017/S0007123422000230 . hdl: 2445/197685 .
  5. [3] [4]
  6. "Political parties in Switzerland". SWI swissinfo.ch. 22 October 2023.
  7. [3] [6]
  8. "Switzerland".
  9. Barbet, Denis; Bonhomme, Marc (2006). La politique mise au Net. ENS Editions. ISBN   9782847880953.
  10. [8] [9]
  11. Church, Clive H. (24 January 2007). Switzerland and the European Union: A Close, Contradictory and Misunderstood Relationship. Routledge. ISBN   9781134194360 via Google Books.
  12. "Weakened communists still flying the red flag". 15 October 2004.
  13. Meyer, Alan (20 June 2021). "Centenary of communism in China means little to Europe's far left". Swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  14. [11] [12] [13]
  15. "BADAC - Le comparatif en ligne des cantons et des villes suisses". Badac.ch. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  16. "Nationalrat 2007". Politik-stat.ch. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  17. "Site de Marianne Huguenin - Je dois faire un choix. Et j'ai choisi Renens".
  18. Nationalratswahlen: Kantonale Parteistärke (Kanton = 100%) (Report). Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2020.