German name Alternative Linke (AL) Italian name La Sinistra Headquarters 2722 Les Reussilles | French name La Gauche (LG) Founded 29 May 2010 Membership (2011) 2,000 | |
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The Alternative Left (German: Alternative Linke; French: La Gauche; Italian: La Sinistra), or The Left in translation from French and Italian, is a political party of the left in Switzerland. This party seeks to unite the political forces and movements farther to the left on Switzerland's political spectrum than the center-left Social Democratic Party and the Green Party.
Contents
Their sole current National Council of Switzerland member was until 2011 Josef Zisyadis, who was elected in 2007 for the Swiss Labour Party. He was still a member of the SLP, but in official publications he was only a member of the Alternative Left.
History
After an opening party congress on November 21, 2009, in Schaffhausen, the party was officially founded six months later at the congress of Lausanne on May 29, 2010. In that congress the party presented a program of 9 important political points. The third congress took place in Zurich on 5 March 2011, where party members voted to launch a national referendum blocking the flat-rate tax incentive favoring foreign millionaires which financial lobbies had sought to enthrone as a Swiss constitutionial amendment. The same referendum in the canton of Zurich, originating with the Alternative List, was earlier approved in that Canton by Zurich's voters with a 52.9% majority in February 2009. The third congress was at the 30th juny in Biel with a discussion with Stéphane Hessel in the afternoon.
Sections
In total the "Alternative Left" counts actually six official sections:
In the French-speaking part of Switzerland the members of the party come mainly from the Swiss Party of Labour, solidaritéS, Les Communistes and independents. The section in Bern is a newly created one, the section in Valais was already founded 2007 at an earlier election rally.
There are also other groups, that are involved in the AL, but they arent official members of the party: