Short-term party president Chiesa sees his mission as accomplished
Published: Thursday, Dec 28th 2023, 09:40
Retour au fil d'actualité
SVP President Marco Chiesa is stepping down after just over three and a half years at the helm of the country's largest party. He was the first Latin SVP leader and was less present in German-speaking Switzerland. With his hard line and conciliatory style, he was nevertheless able to score victories in the federal elections.
March 2024 is the end. Marco Chiesa, the 49-year-old member of the Cantonal Council of Ticino, will step down as the unremunerated leader of the SVP party after one term in office. "I had a mission. And it has been fulfilled," Chiesa explained his departure in an interview with the CH Media newspapers.
His predecessors lasted longer. Albert Rösti remained in office for over four years - due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ueli Maurer and Toni Brunner were party leaders for 17 and eight years respectively.
Perhaps Chiesa is planning to continue his political career. There are government elections in his home town of Lugano in April. There are rumors that he could run for office. So far, he has only commented succinctly on the speculation: "I've read that rumor too."
Party was able to make gains again
Chiesa's term of office may be short, but it is more successful than that of his predecessor Albert Rösti: under Chiesa's aegis, the right-wing SVP was able to regain its position as the strongest party in the national elections in October. It gained nine seats in the National Council and achieved the third-best result in its history. Its success was particularly strong in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. However, the SVP lost one seat in the Council of States.
The first SVP party leader from Latin Switzerland presents himself as conciliatory, tough on issues but moderate in style. "A Blocherian with a smile" is how the Ticino political scientist Oscar Mazzoleni once described him. On issues of immigration, cross-border commuters, asylum and Europe, Chiesa continued the clear course of his predecessors.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the party was initially conspicuously reserved in its criticism of the national government. It later became a trenchant critic of the measures taken by the authorities to combat the spread of the virus. Early on, for example, it called for the lockdown to be lifted and took SP Federal Councillor and Health Minister Alain Berset to task.
Discussion about the urban-rural divide
On August 1, 2021, Chiesa launched an ongoing discussion about an alleged urban-rural divide. He said that the "left-wing cities" were pursuing "parasitic policies" that needed to be combated. The "luxury left" and "patronizing greens" lived "aloof in their bubbles, out of touch with the reality of most people in this country". The calculation was clear: the SVP wanted to attack the cities, often governed by red-green parties, where it had previously struggled in elections.
Chiesa was less present in German-speaking Switzerland. He, who is still learning German, sometimes left appearances to other SVP personalities from the cantons. According to him, this was a "targeted strategy". As party president, he didn't have to be on every TV show, he said in the interview. "Elections are won in the cantons."
Chiesa's political career to date has been on a steep upward trajectory. The owner of a fiduciary company and father of two grew up in Lugano and first played politics for the SVP in the city of Lugano, then in the Ticino cantonal parliament and, from 2015, in the National Council. He scored a political coup in 2019. He was surprisingly elected as the first SVP representative from Ticino to the Council of States.
First he canceled
With this success - against CVP heavyweight Filippo Lombardi - he also made headlines in German-speaking Switzerland. Within the party itself, however, he has long been a household name. In spring 2018, he was elected to the party's vice presidency together with Graubünden SVP National Councillor Magdalena Martullo-Blocher. He had also been Vice President of the former Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (Auns) since 2018.
According to the search committee, Chiesa was on the wish list for the SVP presidency at an early stage. However, he initially declined "for professional reasons". His job at the time as head of a retirement home with over 80 employees ruled out any additional commitment as SVP president, he said. However, he then resigned from this position and became party president in August 2020.
Chiesa graduated from the University of Fribourg in 1999 with a degree in business administration. He therefore speaks fluent French and good German as well as Italian. He then acquired additional qualifications in healthcare and human resources. Chiesa also founded the Pro Infantia Foundation, which manages six crèches.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic