Grand Council of Ticino

The Grand Council of Ticino meet at the Ursuline Palace in the capital, Bellinzona.

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 on canton-wide proportional representation every four years, and meets at the Orsoline Palace in the capital, Bellinzona. Members are called Deputies (deputati).

Elections coincide with those for the canton's executive body, the Council of State. The last elections were on 10 April 2011. The President and two Vice-Presidents are selected by the members of the Grand Council, and not the electorate. Minutes of meetings are made public.^[4]

Composition

• FDP.The Liberals: 24
• Ticino League: 22
• Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland: 17
• Swiss Socialist Party: 13
• Green Party of Switzerland: 6
• Swiss People's Party: 5
• Communist Party: 2
• Mountain Party: 1
• Groups^[5]

Headquarters

Both the legislature and executive of the Ticinese government meet at the Ursuline Palace, built as a convent in 1738 for Ursuline nuns. Its first meeting was on 20 May 1803, the year of the canton's admission to the confederation, at a Benedictine monastery. On 26 August 1803, the first session was held at the convent. In 1848, the Law on the Suppression of Monasteries forced the Ursuline nuns to leave, and permanent use by the government of the Palace has been in place since 1881.^[6]

References