- Lisa Mazzone wants to become president of the Green Party of Switzerland.
- The Geneva Councilor of States, who was voted out in the fall, explains this to SRF News.
- Marionna Schlatter announced her candidacy for vice president. She is not available to succeed Green Party President Balthasar Glättli.
After much consideration, she came to the conclusion that she could make a contribution to green politics even without a parliamentary mandate, said Mazzone. The Geneva woman wants to run for office alone. A co-presidium excludes them.
The politician missed re-election to the Council of States last fall. In the second round of voting, she only came third behind Mauro Poggia (MCG) and Carlo Sommaruga (SP), with whom she had previously represented the canton of Geneva in the small chamber.
“My heart continues to beat for the Greens”
“The event wasn’t easy and I have to admit that the party presidency wasn’t on my mind at all at the beginning,” she says when asked about her deselection from the Council of States in December. “Then I was asked and it was an important decision. My heart continues to beat for the Greens and I see how I can make a difference there,” she says in an interview with SRF News.
Meanwhile, Zurich National Councilor Marionna Schlatter announced that she would not be running as Glättli’s successor. Instead, she is running for vice president, as she confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency. Previously, Schlatter had reacted on I would like to support you as Vice President,” she wrote.
The application deadline for the successor to Zurich National Councilor Balthasar Glättli is February 4th. Delegates will elect the new president at their meeting on April 6th.
Some are still hesitant
Mazzone is the first female politician to announce she will run. According to previous statements, National Councilors Sibel Arslan (BS) and Irene Kälin (AG) have not yet decided on their candidacy. Arslan told the Keystone-SDA news agency that she could imagine holding the office together with Mazzone.
Several other politicians have already taken themselves out of the running to succeed Glättli, including parliamentary group leader Aline Trede, her Ticino National Council colleague Greta Gysin, Freiburg National Councilor Gerhard Andrey and Glarus Councilor of States Mathias Zopfi.