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 citizens resident in the canton, and meets at the Ursoline Palace in the capital, Bellinzona. Members are called Deputies (deputati).

Grand Council of Ticino

Gran Consiglio di Ticino
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
President
First Vice-President
Second Vice-President
Fabio Badasci, Ticino League
Structure
Seats90
Political groups
Elections
Canton-wide proportional representation
Last election
2023
Meeting place
Palazzo delle Orsoline, Bellinzona
Website
[1]

Elections coincide with those of the canton's executive body, the Council of State. The last elections were in 2023. 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.[1]

The Grand Council appoints the members of the canton's judiciary (save for justices of the peace, who are elected in their area by the citizens) and public prosecutors.[2]

Composition

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Building

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Both the Ticinese Council of State and the Grand Council meet at the Ursuline Palace. The palace was first built as a convent in 1738 for Ursuline nuns. The legislative and executive organs first convened in the Palace 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. In 1848, the Law on the Suppression of Monasteries forced the Ursuline nuns to leave, and the premises have been solely occupied by the legislative and executives organs of the Canton of Ticino since.[3]

The first eleven women were elected to the Grand Council of Ticino in 1971, they were Ersilia Fossati, Marili Terribilini-Fluck, Elsa Franconi-Poretti, Linda Brenni, Elda Marazzi, Alice Moretti, Dina Paltenghi-Gardosi, Dionigia Duchini, Rosita Genardini, Rosita Mattei and Ilda Rossi.[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ Presentazione - GC (TICH) - Cantone Ticino
  2. ^ Constitution Article 36
  3. ^ Il Palazzo delle Orsoline - GC (TICH) - Cantone Ticino Archived 27 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Ersilia Fossati".
  5. ^ "Sorengo dà la cittadinanza onoraria a Marili Terribilini-Fluck". laRegione (in Italian). 19 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2024.