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The Centre (political party)

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The Centre
Die Mitte (German)
Le Centre (French)
il Centro (Italian)
il Center (Romansh)
PresidentGerhard Pfister
Members in Federal CouncilViola Amherd
Founded1 January 2021 (2021-01-01)
Merger ofCVP
BDP
Youth wingYoung Centre / Centre Youth
German: Die Junge Mitte
French: Jeunes du Centre
Italian: Giovani del Centro
Romansh: Il Giuven Center
IdeologyChristian democracy[1]
Political positionCentre to centre-right
European affiliationEuropean People's Party (associate)
Colours  Orange
SloganFreedom. Solidarity. Responsibility.
Federal Council
1 / 7
National Council
29 / 200
Council of States
15 / 46
Cantonal executives
40 / 154
Cantonal legislatures
425 / 2,544
Website
die-mitte.ch (German)
le-centre.ch (French)

The Centre (German: Die Mitte; French: Le Centre; Italian: il Centro; Romansh: il Center) is a centre to centre-right[2] political party in Switzerland. It was formed through the merger of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP/PDC) and the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP/PBD). Following the formal merger of the parties on 1 January 2021,[3] it has 29 of 200 seats in the National Council and 15 of 46 seats in the Council of States. Viola Amherd is the party's representative on the Federal Council and currently serves as the President of the Swiss Confederation until her term expires on January 1, 2025.

History

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The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP) was founded in 1912 as the Catholic Conservative Party of Switzerland, becoming the Conservative-Christian-Social People's Party in 1957. In 1970, the name changed to the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland.[4] Over time, the party's dependence on Catholic and rural voters resulted in a deterioration of its vote share nationally, but most especially in urban areas. In the four largest cantons of Zürich, Bern, Vaud and Aargau, the CVP held only three of 94 seats in the National Council.[4] It later ceded one of its two seats on the Federal Council to the SVP in accordance with the Magic formula used to derive party strength on the nation's executive.[5] From the 1995 election to the 2019 election, the CVP's vote share decreased from 16.8% to 11.4%.[6] After the 2003 election, Ruth Metzler of the CVP, was replaced by Christoph Blocher of the Swiss People's Party on the Federal Council, leaving the CVP with only one seat in the country's executive.[7]

The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP) was founded on 1 November 2008 after moderate members of the Swiss People's Party (SVP), who supported the election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf over SVP leader Christoph Blocher to the Federal Council, were expelled by the national SVP and formed the new party.[8][9] It remained a regional party with strength in Bern, Glarus and Grisons, but little support elsewhere in the country.[10][11]

The parties had discussed a political alliance similar to that of the CDU/CSU in Germany from 2012 to 2014, but those negotiations failed. BDP President Martin Landolt openly discussed a merger after the 2019 elections when both parties saw their share of the vote drop from 2015.[12] The parties agreed to a merger in September 2020 and both ratified the merger during 2020.[13][14][15][16] The primary opposition to the change was among members who did not want to drop the "Christian" affiliation for the party.[4] Cantonal parties were not required to adopt the new name if they do not wish to do so.[6] However, the parties will be asked to make a decision on the name within five years of the national change. The party in the Canton of Valais rejected the change, voting to remain as the CVP.[17] The CVP of Aargau, however, moved forward before the national party and contested the November 2020 elections to the Grand Council of Aargau as "CVP – Die Mitte".[18]

Elections

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In the 2019 Swiss federal election, the CVP tallied 11.6% of the vote for the National Council with 25 members, while the BDP won 2.4% and had three members. For elections to the Council of States, the CVP had 13 members. Combined, The Centre has 28 members in the National Council, placing it in a tie for fourth-largest in the lower house. It retains its status as the largest party in the upper house.

Election results

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National Council

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Election Votes % Seats +/–
2023 359,075 14.06 (#4)
29 / 200
 New

References

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  1. ^ "Jahr der Weichenstellungen – für die Schweiz und "Die Mitte"". Konrad Adenauer Foundation. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Switzerland". Europe Elects. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  3. ^ Europe Elects [@EuropeElects] (2 January 2021). "Switzerland: Yesterday, CVP (EPP) and BDP (*) merged" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ a b c "Es ist entschieden: Die CVP beerdigt das "C" – jetzt peilt "Die Mitte" zwei Bundesratssitze an". Aargauer Zeitung (in German). 28 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Federal councillors and their parties". Swiss Government. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Die CVP soll neu "Die Mitte" heissen" (in German). SRF. 4 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Assemblée du PDC: «Le Centre peut atteindre 20% et se renforcer à l'exécutif en 2027»". Le Nouvelliste (in French). 5 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Die BDP Schweiz wird am 1. November gegründet". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 30 August 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Profile - Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf". Reuters. 12 January 2012.
  10. ^ Nationalratswahlen: Kantonale Parteistärke, zusammengefasst nach Parteien (Kanton = 100%) (Report). Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Die CVP heisst ab 2021 «Die Mitte» – die Parteibasis gibt dem neuen Namen ihren Segen". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 27 October 2020.
  12. ^ Adrian Arnold (26 October 2019). "CVP, EVP und BDP verhandeln - Ein neues starkes Mittebündnis?" (in German). SRF.
  13. ^ "Die CVP heisst endgültig "Die Mitte" – und fusioniert mit der BDP" (in German). SRF. 28 November 2020.
  14. ^ "CVP schliesst sich mit BDP zur "Die Mitte" zusammen". Swissinfo (in German). 28 November 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  15. ^ "BDP-Delegierte sagen Ja zum Zusammenschluss mit der CVP". Suedostschweiz (in German). 14 November 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  16. ^ Wientzek, Olaf (1 December 2020). "Historic day for Swiss Christian Democrats – Merger and Farewell to the "C"". Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  17. ^ ""Die Mitte" statt CVP: Mitglieder wollen neuen Namen" (in German). SRF. 27 October 2020.
  18. ^ ""Die Mitte": Kantonalparteien dürften Mutterpartei folgen". Kath.ch (in German). 2 December 2020.
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