The Zurich politician will not be standing for re-election on April 6, he announced on Tuesday on Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The reason: his party’s defeat in last month’s federal elections.
“I am the face of this defeat”, he declared, as the Greens lost five seats on the House of Representatives. The party, he said, “deserves” a “fresh start” with a “new face”.
Although Glättli said he “wasn’t the only one who got it wrong”, he felt he could no longer “shine” for his party, comparing himself to a street lamp, shining up and down.
In a letter to the media, the Zurich native writes that “in a party, there is a responsibility to step forward at the right time. To take up challenges. And there’s the responsibility to withdraw at the right moment. To give new forces a chance.”
Glättli informed the party leadership of his decision the day after the federal elections, and a week after election Sunday to the committee and parliamentary group, he says.
The Zurich-born politician has been in office since 2020. Prior to that, he was chairman of the parliamentary group since 2013. During the 2019 federal elections, he co-led the election campaign.
In a statement, the party praises the tenure of its president, who has led the Greens “with clarity”, “in times marked by numerous crises”. The Greens have never had so many members, they added.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Swisscom receives greenlight for acquisition of Vodafone Italia
This content was published on
The takeover of Vodafone Italia by Swisscom is nearing completion. All relevant authorities have now approved the €8 billion (CHF7.45 billion) deal.
Novo Nordisk stock market plunge drags down Swiss device maker Ypsomed
This content was published on
The Danish pharmaceutical giant, Novo Nordisk, faced setbacks on Friday that weighed on the share price of Swiss injection device manufacturer Ypsomed.
Swiss press react to EU deal with mix of euphoria and scepticism
This content was published on
Swiss media reaction to the agreement between Switzerland and the EU varies widely. Some are celebrating, while others worry about what is to come.
Swiss Solidarity donations to tackle child abuse top CHF4 million
This content was published on
Swiss Solidarity, the humanitarian arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), has raised over CHF4 million ($4.3 million) to tackle child abuse.
EU Commission president says Swiss-EU deal is ‘historic’ agreement
This content was published on
At a joint media conference with Swiss President Viola Amherd in Bern, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of a "day of joy".
Switzerland and EU reach deal on future bilateral relations
This content was published on
Switzerland and the European Union have announced a political agreement to update their trading relationship after almost a decade of difficult talks.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.