Grand Council TI Percentage hurdle for parliament causes heated debates in Ticino

SDA

31.1.2025 - 10:44

Half of the parties currently represented would no longer sit on the council if a four-percent threshold were imposed. (archive picture)
Half of the parties currently represented would no longer sit on the council if a four-percent threshold were imposed. (archive picture)
Keystone

Should Ticino introduce a percentage hurdle for entry into parliament or not? A corresponding proposal is currently dividing the parties in the southern canton. With a four-percent threshold, half of the parties currently represented would no longer sit on the Grand Council.

Keystone-SDA

One of the six parties that would be denied entry into parliament with a four-percent threshold is the still young political movement "Avanti con Ticino & Lavoro". For Amalia Mirante, economist and former SP member, the idea is "a harsh attack on Swiss democracy".

As the government and municipal councillors in Ticino are elected by proportional representation and not by majority system, everything depends on the "excessive power of the parties", she told the Keystone-SDA news agency. A "blocking clause" would "wipe out the votes of tens of thousands of citizens".

Giuseppe Sergi, member of the "Movimento per il socialismo" (MPS), also considers the proposal to be a threat to political pluralism in Ticino.