Christian Democratic Party
“The Christian Democrats are about solutions. We occupy the centre ground, avoiding right-wing or left-wing extremes, and aim to bring our people together. We clearly recognise that having a family today means there is a real risk of becoming poor.”
Philipp Stähelin, president
The roots of the Christian Democrats go back to the conservative, Catholic milieu of the 19th century. The party was first represented in the cabinet in 1891. Between 1919 and 1987, its share of the vote was stable at around 20 per cent, but since the end of the 1980s the party has steadily lost voters.
In the last elections in 1999, it gained only 15.9 per cent of the vote – the worst result of all the governing parties. In the 200-member House of Representatives, the party has 35 parliamentarians; it has 15 members in the 46-strong Senate.
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