Greens are no longer a candidate for the presidency of the Council of States
Published: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 19:01
Updated At: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 19:03
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Following the non-re-election of Councillor of States Lisa Mazzone from Geneva, the Greens will not hold the presidency of the Council of States for years to come. The office will be rotated among the four groups in the small chamber: SP (2024), FDP (2025), Center (2026), SVP (2027).
This is what the group leaders in the Council of States are proposing, as the parliamentary services announced on the short messaging service X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. Mazzone was actually due to take office for the Greens from December 2024. However, she was not re-elected to the small chamber.
The designated President of the Council of States is Eva Herzog (SP/BS). According to the newly defined rotation, it will be the FDP's turn in a year's time. On Friday, the FDP parliamentary group nominated Andrea Caroni (AR) as the first Vice-President in 2024 and designated President of the Council of States in 2025.
The members of the Bureau will be elected by the Council on December 4. The center group in the Council of States comprises 15 members, followed by the FDP with 11, the SP with 9 and the SVP with 6 members.
Greens and GLP are entitled to committee seats
The Greens lost two seats in the Council of States in the elections in October and November. They now only have 3 instead of the previous 5 members in the small chamber. This means that they no longer have a seat in the Council of States - and are therefore not eligible for the presidency of the Council of States.
This has no direct influence on the distribution of seats in the committees. One seat in the Council of States corresponds to approximately three committee seats. These are distributed in the small chamber according to group strength.
Anyone who belongs to a parliamentary group - a total of five members in the National Council and Council of States - is entitled to a committee seat. This means that in addition to the Green members in the small chamber, the newly elected Tiana Angelina Moser (GLP/ZH) will also be able to sit on committees.
Unanswered questions about Poggia
The situation is still unclear for newly elected Councillor of States Mauro Poggia (MCG/GE). His two party colleagues in the National Council are likely to be in the SVP parliamentary group. Poggia himself flirted with membership of the Center Group. However, this is not possible under parliamentary law. "Members of the same party must join the same parliamentary group - regardless of which council they sit in," the parliamentary services write.
For Poggia, the question now arises as to whether he also wants to (and is allowed to) join the SVP parliamentary group or serve as a non-attached member of the Council of States. In the latter option, which is likely, he would not be entitled to sit on committees. He had always rejected joining the SVP parliamentary group during the election campaign.
©Keystone/SDA
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