The Republican Movement (French: Mouvement républicain; German: Republikanische Bewegung) was a political party in Switzerland between 1971 and 1989.
The party was formed by James Schwarzenbach as a breakaway from the National Action against the Infiltration of People and Homeland party in 1971.[1] [2] It received 4.3% of the vote in the elections that year,[3] winning seven seats.[4] However, in the 1975 elections the party's share of the vote fell to 3% and it was reduced to four seats.[3] [4] The 1979 elections saw the party lose the majority of its support as it was reduced to 0.6% of the vote and won only one seat.[3] [5] It saw another fall in its vote share to 0.5% in the 1983 elections,[3] but retained its single seat.[5] In 1987 its vote share fell to just 0.3% and it lost its only seat.[6] [5] The party was subsequently dissolved on 22 April 1989.[1] [2] Most of its members joined the Federal Democratic Union.[7]
The Republican Movement supported anti-immigrant and anti-establishment policies, as well as fundamentalist Protestant Christian views.[7]
In 1972 the Republican Movement officially associated itself with the anti-immigrant Vigilance, which was founded in 1964 and based in the Canton of Geneva. They presented themselves as an electoral alliance three years later.
| Election | Votes | % | Rank | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 1,696 | 0.17% | 11 | 0 | |
| 1971 | 84,700 | 4.25% | 6 | 7 | |
| 1975 | 57,192 | 2.96% | 6 | 4 | |
| 1979 | 11,587 | 0.63% | 11 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 6,769 | 0.35% | 15 | 0 |