Switzerland's Green Liberal Party: a new party model for the environment?

Abstract

Gains in the 2007 Swiss national elections started leading members of the Green Party thinking seriously about securing a seat in the seven-member national government (Federal Council).1 Strong performances in subsequent cantonal elections fostered their aspirations, and after the Fukushima catastrophe in March 2011, most observers were confident that the Green Party would do well in the 2011 national elections and the claim for Green representation in the national government would become irresistible.2 However, in the three cantonal elections following Fukushima, the Green Party scored rather modestly.3 Only in the Ticino (where they gained 3.5%) did the results match their expectations. The modest increases in the other cantons were largely due to the success of Green Liberal Party (GLP), which competed for the first time in Basel-Landschaft and Luzern, achieving 4.5% and 5.9% of the votes respectively. In Zurich, where the GLP had already competed in the 2007 elections, it increased its share by 4.5% to 10.3%, almost matching the Green Party (10.6%). It was therefore no great surprise that the GLP was among the ‘winners’ in the national elections on 23 October 2011, increasing its share of the vote from 1.4% to 5.4%, quite an impressive improvement by Swiss standards. More surprisingly, the Green Party’s vote fell 1.4% to 8.4%, too low to justify a seat in the national government.4 What is the story behind this shift of ecological sympathies to the newly founded GLP? Is it the re-emergence of an old conflict or a promising new development that might benefit the environment? I examine these questions first by briefly reviewing the evolution of the Green Party over the last 30 years before examining the profiles of GLP voters and election candidates to assess what they stand for and what role the GLP might play in the future.