The Geneva Citizens' Movement (), abbreviated to MCG, is a

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in the

Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...

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 ...

. On its own initiative, it started, and is a part of, the wider Romandy Citizens' Movement (), abbreviated to MCR.

History

The MCG was co-founded in 2005 by

Éric Stauffer Éric Stauffer (born 24 October 1964) is a Swiss politician from Homberg. He chaired the Genevan Citizens Movement from 2008 to 2012. Early life and family Stauffer was born to a Genevan father and an Italian mother, and grew up in Homberg, ...

and Georges Letellier. It established itself as the canton's third most powerful political party in the 2009 legislative election, winning 17 out of 100 seats in the

Grand Council of Geneva The Grand Council of Geneva () is the legislature of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland. Geneva, styled as a 'Republic and Canton', has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council was established in its present form and with 100 seats in 1 ...

. In 2010, the MCG formed a wider party organization with chapters throughout the cantons of

Romandy Romandy ( or ; Arpitan: ''Romandia'')Before World War I, the term French Switzerland () waalso used ( or , , ) is the French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 million people, or 22.8% of the Swiss pop ...

, called the ''Mouvement Citoyen Romand'' (MCR). However, only the Geneva chapter has seen real success. The MCG made large gains in the March 2011 cantonal local elections, helping end a 20-year-old majority by left-of-center parties in the parliament of the city of Geneva. In 2013, the MCG further increased its share in the Grand Council of Geneva to 20 seats. In addition, it gained a seat in the

Council of State of Geneva The Council of State of Geneva () is the List of cantonal executives of Switzerland, executive organ of the Canton of Canton of Geneva, Geneva, in Switzerland. Geneva has a seven-member ''Conseil d'Etat (Switzerland), Conseil d'État''. History ...

, the executive organ of the canton, with

Mauro Poggia Mauro Poggia (born 25 April 1959 in Moutier) is a Swiss-Italian politician. He is a member of the Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG) and has been a member of the Council of State of Geneva since 2013. Previously, he served in the National Council f ...

taking the seat. In the federal election of October 2011, the MCG won one of Geneva's eleven seats in the National Council, with

(b. 1959), formerly of the

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

and also the Italian

Union of Christian and Centre Democrats The Union of the Centre (, UdC), whose complete name is Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (''Unione dei Democratici Cristiani e Democratici di Centro'', UDC), is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy. Lorenzo Cesa is the part ...

. The MCG retained its one seat in the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, later losing it in the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

. In the

2023 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2023. The National Democratic Institute also maintains calendar of elections around the world * 2023 United Nations Security Council election * 2023 national electoral calendar * 2023 local elec ...

, the MCG won two seats in the National Council and one in the Council of States.

Grand Council of Geneva election results

Ideology

The MCG calls itself neither left- nor

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

, but it is often referred to as

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

, or

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

by political opponents and the media. The MCG campaigns on a platform of opposition to established party politics ('' classe politique'') and to the 65,000 cross-border commuters from France, calling for the priority allocation of jobs to Swiss citizens. The MCG takes

eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

or nationalist positions, such as supporting the preeminence of

Swiss law Swiss law is a set of rules which constitutes the law in Switzerland. Structure and Sources There is a hierarchy of political levels which reflects the legal and constitutional character of Switzerland. The Federal law (, , ) consist of the ...

before

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

, opposing the bilateral accords with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, and supporting reducing immigration. In addition, it supported a strict implementation of the 2014 Swiss immigration referendum, which aimed to limit immigration through quotas. As of 2015, the MCG supports increased funding for

renewable energies Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and ...

. It believes more controls on social welfare are needed, but it does not support reducing benefits in order to reduce costs, preferring "a general reform of the system and not ineffective half-measures." As of 2015, the MCG supports registered partnerships for

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

but opposes full legalization.

Presidents

* Georges Letellier (2005–2006) * Georges Jost (2006–2008) *

(2008–2012) *

Roger Golay Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

(2012–2016) * Ana Roch (2016–)

References

External links

Geneva Citizens' Movement official website

Romandy Citizens' Movement official webpage (subpage of MCG website)
{{Authority control Political parties in the canton of Geneva Political parties established in 2005 2005 establishments in Switzerland National conservative parties Regionalist parties Right-wing populism in Switzerland Conservative parties in Switzerland Nationalist parties in Switzerland Political parties of minorities in Switzerland