Ticino's SVP says yes to centre-right "common house" with the Lega

The cantonal committee of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) met on Tuesday evening at the party's headquarters in Sant'Antonino to examine the project for a centre-right "common house" in Ticino, put forward by the party leadership together with the Lega dei Ticinesi. At the end of the discussion, the cantonal delegates approved the initiative.

The new political grouping is meant to remain open to all cantonal citizens "che si riconoscono nei valori e nelle proposte di quest'area" (who recognise themselves in the values and proposals of this political area), according to a statement issued by the party to the press. The objectives listed in the programme include protecting jobs and opportunities for Ticino residents, defending the middle class and small and medium-sized businesses, public security, cutting public spending and bureaucracy, a more attractive tax system, defending Swiss neutrality and controlling immigration.

A change at the top

At the same meeting, the cantonal delegates ratified Marco Chiesa as the party's new interim president, as proposed by the leadership. Chiesa succeeds Piero Marchesi, thanked by delegates after ten years leading the Ticino section of the SVP. The handover comes as Marchesi prepares to leave the presidency for his new role in the Council of State.

In his last speech as president, Marchesi looked back on the party's growth under his leadership: from 5% at the cantonal elections before he became president to 15% at the last federal elections. He also recalled the creation of 35 new communal sections across the canton and the offices won by the SVP over the past decade: his own seat in the Council of State, which he will take up on 7 October, as well as two seats in the National Council and one in the Council of States. Marchesi finally cited several ballot-box victories from his term, from the Morisoli decree to the recent neutralisation of property value estimates.