Center Party seeks second Federal Council seat in the medium term
Published: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 18:50
Updated At: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 18:54
العودة إلى البث المباشر
The Center Party wants to take on more government responsibility in the medium term. This was decided by the parliamentary group on Friday. However, it is not yet seeking a second seat in the upcoming general elections.
"On 13 December, we will confirm in office all members of the Federal Council who are standing for a further term of office," parliamentary group leader Philipp Matthias Bregy told the media in Bern. The center also recognizes the SP's claim to the seat vacated by Alain Berset. "We will invite the official candidates to hearings." The SP will choose its two-person ticket on Saturday.
However, the Green candidate, National Councillor Gerhard Andrey (FR), will not be heard by the parliamentary group, as Bregy said. The Greens want to contest an FDP seat. The center will not offer its support. The SP parliamentary group wants to hear Andrey.
Mitte renounces chancellor's office
In the medium term, however, the center is aiming for a second seat in the Federal Council. "We have a clear mandate from the voters to do so," says Bregy. According to party leader Gerhard Pfister, the centrist party is therefore refraining from running for the vacant Federal Chancellor's office. Instead, it will listen to the official candidates of the other parliamentary groups.
The two SVP representatives Gabriel Lüchinger (SG) and Nathalie Goumaz (VD) as well as the GLP candidate and current Vice-Chancellor Viktor Rossi (BE) are currently in the running. Pfister said that his parliamentary group had not yet made up its mind - not even on the question of whether representatives of a party that is not represented in the Federal Council should be considered for the post of Chancellor. "We have not ruled it out and are prepared to discuss it."
Criticism of SVP/FDP majority in the Federal Council
Pfister said that it is not yet clear whether the center of the FDP will contest the second seat in the event of the resignation of an FDP member of the Federal Council during the legislative period. "We will decide that when there is actually a vacancy."
Addressing the SVP/FDP majority in the government, Bregy said: "Just because you have the numerical power to enforce your own will does not mean that you can simply do so. This applies in particular to the policy of the Federal Council." The logic of the center is that of a true concordance.
Yes to the EPP and no to the MCG
The Center Group also decided to continue its partnership with the Evangelical People's Party (EPP). As the third-strongest parliamentary group, the Center Party wants to break through the deadlock between the poles with its own proposals in the coming legislature and thus contribute to viable solutions with majority support, said Pfister.
In contrast, the newly elected MCG member of the Council of States Mauro Poggia was rejected. The political positions of the protest party Mouvement Citoyens Genevois and the Center Party are too far apart, according to the unanimous opinion of the parliamentary group. It was therefore not appropriate to include Poggia in the centrist group.
The two MCG National Councillors, Roger Golay and Daniel Sormanni, want to join the SVP parliamentary group. In this context, Center President Pfister spoke of too different signals from the MCG. He also pointed out that, according to the law, all members of a party in the federal parliament must belong to the same parliamentary group.
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