Politics of Switzerland
Politics of Switzerland Political parties in Switzerland Elections in Switzerland: 2003 Flag of Switzerland Template:Unverfied File links The following pages link to this file: Arsenal F.C. Aargau European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Switzerland Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ski jumping... Switzerland is a federal republic, and perhaps the closest state in the world to a direct democracy. ... Political parties in Switzerland lists political parties in Switzerland. ... Politics of Switzerland Categories: Election related stubs | Elections in Switzerland ...

Legislative elections in the Swiss Confederation were held on 19 October 2003. Although in Switzerland's peculiar political system, in which all four major parties form a coalition, it's very hard to achieve a change of government, this election produced an upset in the strong showing of the right-wing, anti-European Union and anti-immigration Swiss People's Party. The left wing parties, the Socialists and the Greens, also improved their positions. The losers were the parties of the centre-right, the Christian Democratic People's Party and the Free Democratic Party. Jump to: navigation, search October 19 is the 292st day of the year (293nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Euroscepticism is scepticism about, or disagreement with, the purposes of the European Union, sometimes coupled with a wish to preserve national sovereignty. ... Anti-immigrant and anti-immigration are labels that are often considered inaccurate or prejudicial by those to whom they are applied. ... The Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre German: Schweizerische Volkspartei, French: Union Démocratique du Centre, Italian: Unione Democratica del Centro, Romansh: Uniun Democratica dal Center) is a political party in Switzerland. ... The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (also rendered as Socialist Party of Switzerland, in German: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz (SPS), French Parti socialiste suisse (PSS), Italian Partito Socialista Svizzero, Romansh Partida Socialdemocrata de la Svizra. ... The Green Party of Switzerland (Grüne Partei der Schweiz / Les verts - Parti écologiste suisse) is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland and the biggest party besides the governing parties. ... The Christian Democratic Peoples Party of Switzerland (Also called as Christan-Democratic Party, German: Christlich Demokratische Volkspartei (CVP), French: Parti Démocrate-Chrétien Suisse (PDC), Italian: Partito Popolare Democratico Svizzero (PPD), Romansh: Partida Cristiandemocratica Svizra (PCD)) is a centre-right initially Catholic political party from Switzerland. ... This article is part of or related to the Liberalism series Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | Liberal parties | Swiss political parties ...

In the aftermath of the elections Ruth Metzler-Arnold, one of the two Christian Democrats in the Federal Council was replaced by Christoph Blocher, the most influential politician in the Swiss People's Party. Ruth Metzler-Arnold (born May 23, 1964) is a Swiss politician. ... The Swiss Federal Council (in German: Bundesrat, in French: Conseil fédéral, in Italian: Consiglio federale, in Romansh: Cussegl Federal) is the seven-member executive council which collectively assumes the office of head of state equivalent to that of a president or of a monarch in the government of... Christoph Blocher Christoph Blocher (born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss politician. ...

The Legislature

Switzerland has a bicameral legislature, the Federal Assembly (Assemblée Fédérale / Bundesversammlung / Asamblea Federale / Assemblea Federala).

• The National Council (Conseil National / Nationalrat / Consiglio Nazionale / Cussegl Naziunal) has 200 members, elected for four-year terms by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies corresponding to the 26 Swiss cantons and half-cantons.
• The Council of States (Conseil des Etats / Ständerat / Consiglio degli Stati / Cussegl dals Stadis) has 46 members elected for four-year terms from multi-member and single-member constituencies.

These elections were to the National Council and for most of the members of the Council of States. The National Council of Switzerland is the large Chamber of the parliament and has 200 seats. ... The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ... The Council of States of Switzerland (German: Ständerat, French Conseil des Etats, Italian Consiglio degli Stati) is the upper house of the Swiss parliament. ...

All parties in Switzerland have different names in French, German and Italian, and conduct separate campaigns in the different language areas.

Parties

Government parties

These four parties have formed a continuous coalition government since 1959 with each party allotted a fixed number of cabinet posts (the "magic formula"). 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Swiss People's Party (right wing-populist) The Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre German: Schweizerische Volkspartei, French: Union Démocratique du Centre, Italian: Unione Democratica del Centro, Romansh: Uniun Democratica dal Center) is a political party in Switzerland. ...

• SVP, Schweizerische Volkspartei
• UDC, Union démocratique du centre
• UDC, Unione democratica di centro

Social-Democratic Party or Socialist Party (centre-left) The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (also rendered as Socialist Party of Switzerland, in German: Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz (SPS), French Parti socialiste suisse (PSS), Italian Partito Socialista Svizzero, Romansh Partida Socialdemocrata de la Svizra. ...

• SP, Sozialdemokratische Partei
• PSS, Parti socialiste Suisse
• PS, Partito socialista

Christian Democratic Party (centre-right) The Christian Democratic Peoples Party of Switzerland (Also called as Christan-Democratic Party, German: Christlich Demokratische Volkspartei (CVP), French: Parti Démocrate-Chrétien Suisse (PDC), Italian: Partito Popolare Democratico Svizzero (PPD), Romansh: Partida Cristiandemocratica Svizra (PCD)) is a centre-right initially Catholic political party from Switzerland. ...

• CVP, Christlichdemokratische Volkspartei
• PDC, Parti Démocrate-Chrétien
• PDC, Partito popolare democratico

Radical Democratic Party (centre-right, liberal) This article is part of or related to the Liberalism series Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | Liberal parties | Swiss political parties ...

• FDP, Freisinnig-demokratische Volkspartei
• PRD, Parti radical-démocratique
• PLR, Partito liberale radicale

Other parties

Green Lists (under different names in each Canton) The Green Party of Switzerland (Grüne Partei der Schweiz / Les verts - Parti écologiste suisse) is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland and the biggest party besides the governing parties. ...

Liberal Party The Liberal Party of Switzerland (German: Liberale Partei der Schweiz, French: Parti liberal suisse, Italian: Partito Liberale Svizzero) is a free market liberal party in Switzerland. ...

• LP, Liberale Partei
• Les Libéraux

Evangelical People's Party The Evangelical Peoples Party of Switzerland (German: Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz, French: Parti Evangelique Suisse, Italian: Partito Evangelico Svizzero) is a political party from Switzerland. ...

• EVP, Evangelische Volkspartei
• PE, Parti évangélique
• PE, Partito evangelico

Federal Democratic Union The Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (Switzerland: Eidgenössisch-Demokratische Union, Union Démocratique Fédérale, Unione Democratica Federale) is a political party in Switzerland. ...

• EDU, Eidgenossisch-Demokratische Union
• UDF, Union Démocratique Fédérale

Official Results

This are the votes and seats each party gained for the National Council (compared with the previous results from the 1999 elections). 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

 Party Votes (%) Seats ---------------------------------------------------------- 1999 2003 99-03 1999 2003 99-03 ---------------------------------------------------------- SVP/UDC 22.5 26.7 +4.2 44 55 +11 SPS/PSS/PS 22.5 23.3 +0.8 51 52 +1 FDP/PRD/PLR 19.9 17.3 -2.6 43 36 -7 CVP/PDC 15.9 14.4 -1.5 35 28 -7 Greens 5.0 7.4 +2.4 9 13 +4 LPS/PLS 2.3 2.2 -0.1 6 4 -2 EVP/PE 1.8 2.3 +0.5 3 3 0 EDU/UDF 1.2 1.3 +0.1 1 2 +1 Others 8.9 5.1 8 7 -1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Total 200 200 ---------------------------------------------------------- 

See also: Politics of Switzerland Switzerland is a federal republic, and perhaps the closest state in the world to a direct democracy. ...

External links and references

• Official voting results (German)
• 2003 election coverage in German, French, Italian, Romansh