The Autonomous Socialist Party (, PSA) was a

far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

political party in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, based in the canton of

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

History

The PSA was established in 1966; its founders were former members from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

who had been expelled for their far-left views.Vincent E. McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe: Poland-Yugoslavia'', Greenwood Press, pp912–913 It failed to win a seat in the National Council in the 1971 federal elections, but in the 1975 elections it ran in

in alliance with the

Progressive Organizations of Switzerland The Progressive Organisations of Switzerland (POCH; ; ) was a communist party founded in 1969. Most of its members were from a university background. History of the POCH In 1977, many women's groups split from the party to form the Organisati ...

(POCH), with Werner Carobbio winning one seat. It continued its alliance with POCH for the 1979 elections, retaining its single seat. It retained the seat again in the

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. It was renamed Unitarian Socialist Party in 1988, Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1899 The PSA was well represented in the

Grand Council of Ticino The Grand Council of Ticino (Italian: ''Gran Consiglio di Ticino'') is the legislature for the Swiss canton of Ticino. The 90-member council is elected every four years by proportional representation in a single constituency comprising the citize ...

, maintaining between six and nine seats in the legislature (of ninety) constantly between 1971 and 1991. After retaining its seat again in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, it merged back into the Social Democratic Party in 1992.

Election history

National Council

Grand Council of Ticino

Notable members

* Werner Carobbio * Pietro Martinelli

References

* {{Authority control Cantonal political parties in Switzerland Defunct communist parties in Switzerland Political parties established in 1966 1966 establishments in Switzerland Political parties disestablished in 1992 1992 disestablishments in Switzerland