Ticino League

Template:Short description Template:Infobox Swiss political party The Ticino League (Template:Langx) is a regionalist,<ref name="Skenderovic2009">Template:Cite book</ref> national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.

The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli.<ref name=HDS/> After some public campaigning in the Sunday newspaper Template:Ill against political power and the use of public money, Bignasca and Maspoli founded the Ticino League to continue the fight at the political level. Bignasca (1945–2013) was the League's "president for life".

The League is one of the four major parties in the canton, alongside the Liberal Radical Party (PLR), the Democratic People's Party (PPD), and the Swiss Socialist Party (PS). Since 1991, the party has been represented in the National Council and the five-member cantonal executive of Ticino (the Council of State, Consiglio di Stato) with two seats. In the 90-seat Ticino legislature (the Grand Council, Gran Consiglio), the party has 18 seats.

At the 2011 federal election, the party won 0.8% of the national popular vote and secured two out of 200 seats in the National Council (the first chamber of the Swiss parliament), doubling their representation compared to the single seat they held in 2007 with 0.5% of the vote.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the 2015 election, the Ticino League slightly increased its share of the national vote to 1.0% and kept its two seats in parliament.<ref name=NR2015>Template:Cite web</ref> The party is not represented in the Council of States nor on the Federal Council.

The 2019 Swiss federal election cost the League one of its representatives in the National Council, as Template:Ill was unable to hold her seat. Lorenzo Quadri was re-elected as the League’s sole representative in the Parliament.<ref name=2019Election>Template:Cite news</ref> The League formed an electoral list with the Swiss People's Party (SVP) for the 2023 Swiss federal election;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the SVP was seen as gaining support at the League's expense.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ideology

In the Federal Assembly, the League sits with the Swiss People's Party (UDC), and commentators see it as the Swiss Italian equivalent of the UDC<ref name="Schindler">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Restive">Template:Cite web</ref> (although the UDC has a cantonal section, as well as seats in the Grand Council of Ticino). A more notable political position of the League is its support for banning the Burqa, which it achieved in 2015.<ref name="Schindler"/>

The League defines itself as neither a left nor a right-wing party, but is generally characterised as a right-wing populist. It is also strongly eurosceptic, supporting Swiss sovereignty and reduced immigration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also argues for the protection of Swiss and Ticino national identity, wanting a more friendly environment for small businesses and policies to protect the elderly and more vulnerable members of society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Although ideologically close to the UDC, the League has taken a more moderate posture on gay rights and voted in favour of the Marriage For All bill, which opened the process for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Switzerland. The party took a neutral stance during the 2021 Swiss same-sex marriage referendum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The League supports continued Ticino membership in Switzerland.<ref name="Restive"/> However, it supports the project of Insubria<ref name="Restive"/> and has some ties with the regional and federalist northern Italian rightist party Lega Nord.<ref name="Restive"/>Template:Better source needed

Election results

National Council

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
1991	28,290	1.4% (#11)	Template:Composition bar	New
1995	17,940	0.9% (#14)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 1
1999	17,118	0.9% (#11)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 1
2003	7,304	0.4% (#14)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 1
2007	13,031	0.6% (#11)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0
2011	19,657	0.8% (#9)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Increase 1
2015	24,713	1.0% (#10)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0
2019	18,187	0.8% (#12)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Decrease 1
2023	14,160	0.6% (#10)	Template:Composition bar	Template:Steady 0

Literature

• Template:Cite book

See also

• Marco Borradori

External links

• Official website (in Italian)