Party’s black sheep chapter announces new name
The canton Graubünden chapter of the rightwing Swiss People's Party, expelled from the national movement, has renamed itself.
From Saturday, when the new group will officially be launched, it will call itself the Conservative Party of Switzerland.
An overwhelming majority of members approved the new name at a meeting in Landquart on Monday.
The interim president of the new party, Ueli Bleiker, said the name was agreed after consultation with breakaway People’s Party members in cantons Bern and Glarus.
The national party banned the Graubünden chapter and its representative in the Swiss government, Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, because she accepted her election to the cabinet.
This was against the wishes of the national party leadership, which had called on the Graubünden chapter to sanction Widmer-Schlumpf. But it refused.
The internal strife has also led to more moderate members of the Bern cantonal chapter to set up their own party to protest against the hardline policies of the national leadership.
Defence Minister Samuel Schmid belongs to the breakaway faction in Bern.
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