Grand Council | |
Native Name: | |
Session Room: | Rathaus Bern - Session des Grossen Rates.jpg |
House Type: | Unicameral |
Leader1 Type: | President |
Leader1: | Jürg Iseli |
Members: | 160 |
Political Groups1: | Government parties (132)
|
Voting System1: | Party-list proportional representation Hagenbach-Bischoff system |
Last Election1: | 2018 |
Meeting Place: | Rathaus |
Website: | https://www.gr.be.ch/ |
The Grand Council (German: Grosser Rat, French: Grand conseil) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern.
It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. The French-speaking part of the canton, the Bernese Jura (districts of Courtelary, La Neuveville and Moutier) has 12 seats guaranteed, and 3 seats are guaranteed for the French-speaking minority of the bilingual district of Biel/Bienne.
The council is re-elected every four years. Like other legislatures in Switzerland, elections use party list proportional representation. There are nine constituencies, based on the districts of the Canton.
Constituency | Boundaries | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|
Biel-Bienne - Seeland | Districts of Biel/Bienne and Seeland | 26 | |
Mittelland North | North Part of Bern-Mittelland | 22 | |
Bern | City of Bern | 20 | |
Mittelland-South | South Part of Bern-Mittelland | 20 | |
Thun | District of Thun | 17 | |
Oberland | Oberland region (contains three districts) | 16 | |
Emmental | District of Emmental | 15 | |
Bernese Jura | District of Jura Bernois | 12 | |
Oberaargau | District of Oberaargau | 12 |
The last election was held in 2018.[2]
All links are in German and French, unless otherwise noted.