Liberal Party of Switzerland

Liberal Party of Switzerland
German: Liberale Partei der Schweiz
French: Parti liberal suisse
Italian: Partito Liberale Svizzero
Romansh: Partida liberala svizra
Founded 1913 (1913)
Dissolved 1 January 2009 (2009-01-01)
Merged into FDP.The Liberals
Headquarters Spitalgasse 32, Case postale 7107
3001 Bern
Ideology Libertarianism (Switzerland)
Economic liberalism
Soft Euroscepticism
Political position Centre-right
European affiliation European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
International affiliation Liberal International
European Parliament group European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
Colours      Blue

The Liberal Party of Switzerland (German: Liberale Partei der Schweiz, French: Parti liberal suisse, Italian: Partito Liberale Svizzero, Romansh: Partida liberala svizra) was a party 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) to establish FDP.The Liberals.

It was strongest in the Protestant cantons in Romandy, particularly in the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, and Neuchâtel. In contrast, the ideologically similar FDP was successful nationwide. The Liberal Party was a member of Liberal International.

History

In the 2003 federal election, the party had a joint slate with the Free Democratic Party. 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 of Romandy and the canton of Basel-City, they were particularly successful. Their best performance was in Geneva, where they received 16.8% of the vote. It won 4 seats (out of 200) in the Swiss National Council, but was represented in neither the second chamber nor in the Swiss Federal Council, the government's cabinet.

After the election, the Liberals and FDP founded a common caucus in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union.[1] They finally merged on 1 January 2009 with the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland to form the "FDP. The Liberals".

Presidents

  • 1981–1985   Lukas Burckhardt, Basel
  • 1985–1989   Gilbert Coutau, Geneva
  • 1989–1993   Claude Bonnard, Vaud
  • 1993–1997   François Jeanneret, Vaud
  • 1997–2002   Jacques-Simon Eggly, Geneva
  • 2002–2008   Claude Ruey, Vaud
  • 2008–2009   Pierre Weiss, Geneva

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ New alliance counters left-right polarisation, swissinfo.org


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