Written by Nicolas Zhan (MIA '14)

Sometimes, studying politics isn’t enough and you want to get involved rather than just analysing developments. But what if you can’t find a place to bring your political ideas to life?

Operation Libero is a new political movement which was formed in the aftermath of the 2014 Swiss vote to limit mass immigration. There was a growing political dynamic aimed towards the past and isolation, and the referendum was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

We wanted to do something, and felt the Swiss political landscape was in dire need of a new player. The idea to found a campaigning political movement which was focused on openness and internationalisation was born.

In October 2014, Operation Libero held its first press conference and has since started to make its mark in Swiss political discourse and become known to a wide public through campaigning against proposals to expel foreign criminals and to reduce population growth, and for asylum rights, the free movement of people, and equal marriage.

Myself, and fellow Institute student Anja Grob (MDEV '16) are founding board members of Operation Libero, which is open to everyone interested in ensuring that Switzerland remains as attractive as possible while developing its potential. Adrian Mahlstein (Political Science '08), another fellow Institute student is our campaign manager.

We are working to establish the organisation throughout French speaking Switzerland. If you would like to know more, please visit the website or contact me, Anja or Adrian directly.