Progressive organizations in Switzerland

The Progressive Organizations in Switzerland , mostly called POCH for short , were a left-wing political party that was active until the early 1990s.

history

The POCH was founded as a communist party as part of the 1968 student movement . In 1977, many women's groups split off from the POCH and founded the Organization for the Women's Cause (OFRA) . In 1987 the POCH distanced themselves from Marxism-Leninism and henceforth called themselves POCH-Greens. After the dissolution of the individual cantonal parties between the late 1970s and 1993, many POCH members joined the Green Party , some of them the Social Democrats , and the party was dissolved. The last cantonal section dissolved in Basel-Stadt , from which the BastA party, which still exists today, emerged .

The Rotpunktverlag in Zurich , which still exists today, has its origins in the POCH . This was founded in 1976 as the «Rotpunkt Verlag (RPV)» cooperative based on a decision by the party leadership with the aim of «promoting the publication and distribution of socialist literature» .

The indirect successor of POCH in the city of Zurich is the Alternative List , which was founded after the POCH section there was dissolved.

Results of the elections to the National Council

• 1971 : 0.09%
• 1975 : 0.99%
• 1979 : 1.70% - 2 seats, Ruth Mascarin and Andreas Hercozg
• 1983 : 2.23% - 3 seats, Ruth Mascarin, Barbara Gurtner and Andreas Herczog
• 1987 : 3 seats (candidacy on lists of the Green Alliance , which achieved a share of the vote of 4.00%), Anita Fetz , Susanne Leutenegger Oberholzer , Andreas Herczog
• 1991 : Candidate on lists of the electoral alliance " The Other Switzerland - DACH " (together with the Green Alliance ) and the PdA

Web links

• Bernard Degen : Progressive Organizations (POCH). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Green Party of Switzerland and groups that have been partially absorbed into it (Green Alliance, POCH, SAP) , from 1987 (PDF)
• Publications by and about Swiss Progressive Organizations in the Helveticat catalog of the Swiss National Library
• Holdings: POCH Bern in the finding aids of the Swiss Social Archives
• Holdings: POCH Zurich in the finding aids of the Swiss Social Archives

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lucien Scherrer: The 68s and the art of displacement - how left veterans gloss over their past In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of August 17, 2018
2. ↑ Entry of the «Rotpunkt Verlag (RPV)» cooperative in the commercial register of the Canton of Zurich  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Anniversary brochure “30 Years of Rotpunktverlag” (PDF file; 3.15 MB)
4. ^ Report to the National Council on the National Council elections for the 41st legislative period of November 14, 1979, pp. 302 and 337 ( PDF )
5. ^ Report to the National Council on the National Council elections for the 42nd legislative period of November 9, 1983, pp. 302 and 337 ( PDF )
6. ^ Report to the National Council on the National Council elections for the 43rd legislative period of November 11, 1987, pp. 302 and 337 ( PDF )