Marco Chiesa

Marco Chiesa (born 10 October 1974) is a Swiss politician from the Canton of Ticino. He was a member of the Grand Council of Ticino from 2007 to 2015 and the National Council from 2015 to 2019. He has been a member of the Council of States since 2019. Since 2020, he has been the President of the Swiss People's Party.

Marco Chiesa
Member of the Council of States
Assumed office
2 December 2019
Preceded byFabio Abate
Member of the National Council of Switzerland
In office
30 November 2015 – 1 December 2019
Preceded byPiero Marchesi
Member of the Grand Council of Ticino
In office
2007–2015
President of the Swiss People's Party
Assumed office
22 August 2020
Preceded byAlbert Rösti
Personal details
Born (1974-10-10) 10 October 1974
Lugano, Switzerland
Political partySwiss People's Party (SVP)

Biography

Chiesa was born in Lugano in 1974. His father was a street maintenance worker and he grew up in the Molino Nuovo section of the city.[1] He graduated from the University of Fribourg with a degree in business administration.[2]

After college, he worked as a tax advisor and banking expert. However, his career shifted when he became the manager of a retirement home in the Italian region of Grisons.[1] He entered politics as a member of the municipal council of Villa Luganese. In 2007, he was elected to the Grand Council of Ticino. He won a seat in the National Council in 2015 and served one term. In the 2019, he finished second in the first round of voting behind incumbent Filippo Lombardi.[3] With no candidates taking an absolute majority in the first round, the election went to a second round where Chiesa and Marina Carobbio Guscetti surprised with a win over, Lombardi and Giovanni Merlini.[4] Chiesa became the first member of the SVP to represent Ticino in the Council of States and, with the defeat of Merlini, was the first time in more than a century that FDP.The Liberals and its predecessor, the FDP, did not elect one of its members from Ticino.[5]

Chiesa was elected to his party's vice presidency in 2018.[2] In 2019, he was mentioned as a possible successor to outgoing SVP president Albert Rösti; however, he initially rejected the overtures as his management of the retirement home did not allow him to take on another position. He later resigned from the center, which opened up the possibility of his nomination. In July 2020, a selection committee of the SVP tasked with nominating a new party president named Chiesa as its preferred candidate for the post.[2] Andreas Glarner withdrew in favor of Chiesa.[6] Before the election, Alfred Heer also withdrew. Chiesa was formally elected as the party president on 22 August 2020.[7][8]

Chiesa has been described as being very close to former SVP power broker Christoph Blocher.[9] He has supported changes to Switzerland's bilateral treaties with the European Union with regard to immigration.[1] He has criticized uncontrolled immigration as being responsible for traffic jams, higher housing costs and unfair competition for workers.[10][11]

He speaks Italian and French fluently and can speak German well.[10]

References
  1. "Marco Chiesa: Vom Altersheim in die kleine Kammer" (in German). SRF. 2020-11-18.
  2. "Marco Chiesa soll Parteipräsident werden". Züriost (in German). 2020-07-30.
  3. "È ufficiale: salta il seggio leghista al Nazionale". Corriere del Ticino (in Italian). 2019-10-19.
  4. "Ballottaggio, doppia sorpresa: Chiesa e Carobbio eletti". La Regione (in Italian). 2019-11-17.
  5. "Filippo Lombardi (CVP) ist abgewählt" (in German). SRF. 2019-11-17.
  6. ""Forza Marco!": Applaus von links für SVP-Überraschungsmann Chiesa". Tages Anzeiger (in German). 2020-08-02.
  7. "Tessiner Marco Chiesa ist neuer SVP-Präsident". Swiss Radio and Television (in German). 2020-08-22.
  8. Koltrowitz, Silke (August 22, 2020). "Swiss People's Party elects only candidate Chiesa as president". Reuters. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  9. "Toni Brunner findet den neuen SVP-Präsidenten "wunderbar" – doch ganz so euphorisch sind in der SVP nicht alle". Neue Zurcher Zeitung (in German). 2020-08-02.
  10. "Marco Chiesa als neuer SVP-Präsident nominiert". Nau.ch (in German). 2020-08-02.
  11. "Marco Chiesa über die schwächelnde SVP". Blick (in German). 2020-08-02.
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