The party with the strongest voter base has been active internationally for 30 years The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) was one of the first Swiss political parties to have party structures abroad: SVP International was founded in 1992. It has sections in Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa, and has ‘country contacts’ in Liechtenstein, Norway, Britain and Hungary. SVP International is chaired by Inge Schütz (Switzerland), who lived in Sweden for years. 2023 elections: SVP International is currently engaged in negotiations with cantonal parties in the cantons in which it is running separate lists. Cantonal sections are responsible for nominating the candidates. They are free to include candidates from the “Fifth Switzerland” on their party ticket. The SVP came out of the 2019 federal elections as the clear winner in terms of number of votes. It won a 25.6 % share of the vote (down from 29.4 % in 2015). The SVP has two seats on the Federal Council. Online: www.svp-international.ch www.facebook.com/svpinternational Contact: General Secretariat of SVP Switzerland, SVP International, info@svp-interrnational.ch The Green Liberal Party (GLP) unveils the latest international section GLP International, founded in September 2022, is the newest international section of a Swiss political party with a strong voter base. The aim of GLP International is “to respond to the desire of the Swiss Abroad to take a more active involvement in Swiss politics, and to ensure that their ideas and perspectives are heard” , thereby “contributing towards the modernisation of Swiss politics”. GLP International is chaired by Thomas Häni (Germany). 2023 elections: the party is looking to encourage as many Swiss Abroad as possible to stand as GLP candidates in the 2023 elections. The Green Liberals made strong gains during the previous federal elections in 2019. The GLP scored 7.8 % of the vote at that time (4.6 % in 2015). It is the sixth-largest party and has no representatives on the Federal Council yet. Online: the GLP International website is under construction. The party already has an online presence at: www.facebook.com/glpinternational www.twitter.com/GLPInternation1 www.instagram.com/glp_international Contact: international@grunliberale.ch The Liberals (FDP) have integrated the “Fifth Switzerland” for years The FDP has had an international section since 1992. FDP International works not only to connect the Swiss Abroad, but also to bring the issues faced by the “Fifth Switzerland” to the attention of party members, the parliamentary party and FDP Switzerland through lively discussions. FDP International is also active at a European and global level and collaborates with The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and Liberal International, as well as helping its mother party maintain good international party relations. The chairperson of FDP International is Helen Freiermuth (Turkey). 2023 elections: FDP International is working with FDP Switzerland and the cantonal parties to clarify the options for lists including the Swiss Abroad. The FDP, which also has two seats on the Federal Council, is going into the elections in third place. It won a 15.1 % share of the vote in 2019 (16.4 % in 2015). Online: www.twitter.com/FDPInt www.fdp-international.com/willkommen www.facebook.com/fdp.die.liberalen.international Contact: info@fdp-international.com Green Internationality – even without an international section The Greens are as yet without an international section. Party members living abroad are currently being sounded out on how they want to consolidate the Greens’ work, whether as members of a network or even an entirely new international section. At the same time, internationality is a reality for the Swiss Green party. They are already working together with the Global Greens and the European Greens. Their events are also always intended for the Swiss Abroad. 2023 elections: the party advises its cantonal sections to nominate candidates from the “Fifth Switzerland” too. In Canton Geneva, cross-border candidates are once again allowed to form their own list. The Greens were very successful at the 2019 elections. Their share of the vote rose to 13.2 % (7.1 % in 2015). They have no representatives on the Federal Council. Online: www.gruene.ch Contact: contact details for the Green cantonal parties are available at www.gruene.ch/kantonalparteien. Contact for The Swiss Green Party: gruene@gruene.ch. The Centre has an active network instead of a foreign section The Centre, formed from the merger of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (CVP) and the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) in 2020, has no foreign section but does have a network of interested people under the name Die Mitte International (The Centre International). The people involved in this network are often members of a Centre cantonal party. Contact with the network – and communications with sister parties abroad – are the responsibility of the delegate for international affairs, appointed by the party leadership. The current delegate is National Councillor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter (BL). 2023 elections: the party welcomes the nomination of “people with a strong local presence” from abroad, but does not make having them as candidates a requirement for the cantonal parties. The CVP and BDP had a total share of 13.9 % of the vote in the 2019 elections (15.7 % in 2015). They have since combined to form the Centre party and have one seat on the Federal Council. Online: the network’s online presence is in the pipeline. Centre party website: www.die-mitte.ch. Contact: international@die-mitte.ch The Social Democratic Party (SP) uses “antennas” to promote international connections The SP has had an international section, SP International, since 1999. This section is chaired by Gaëlle Courtens (Italy) and Pierre-Alain Bolomey (Switzerland). To promote mutual communication, SP International has also developed a network of so-called SP antennas. These antennas either bring members together at a local level (Berlin, Brussels, Rome, France, Israel) or help bring members who are scattered in more remote locations (Africa, USA) within the fold of the network. 2023 elections: the SP advises its cantonal parties to nominate candidates from the “Fifth Switzerland” too. The party is also planning on running a separate list in Canton Geneva featuring candidates from the “Fifth Switzerland”. The SP came in second place in the 2019 elections. It won a 16.8 % share of the vote (18.8 % in 2015). Two of the seven current members of the Federal Council are in the SP. Online: www.sp-ps.ch/partei/sp-international/ Contact: Sandro Liniger, International Secretary of the Swiss SP, sandro.liniger@spschweiz.ch Swiss Review / January 2023 / No.1 21
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