Vice Chancellor Rossi will become the new Federal Chancellor.
Published: Monday, Oct 30th 2023, 11:11
Updated At: Tuesday, Oct 31st 2023, 00:53
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Vice Chancellor Viktor Rossi has announced his candidacy to succeed Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr. The GLP faction has nominated him as their candidate. Rossi is the first to officially declare his intention to run for the position.
Since May 2019, Rossi has been Vice Chancellor and heads the Federal Council of the Federal Chancellery. The GLP wrote that he has the technical and personal competencies for the position. He is multilingual and highly regarded as a leader, a "solution-oriented mediator between the departments" and "an active shaper of the digital transformation of the federal administration".
Drive Digitalization Forward
As Vice Chancellor, Rossi is present at the weekly sessions of the Federal Council, which oversees the roughly 2,500 motions passed by the Federal Council each year. Additionally, this section is responsible for responding to the approximately 1,300 motions from the Councils annually.
The 1968-born Swiss-Italian dual citizen Rossi declared in the statement that he stands for continuity at the head of the Federal Chancellery and wants to consistently drive forward the digitalization of the administration. According to the GLP, he has been a long-standing party member.
Rossi is a trained chef who studied economics and law after his apprenticeship. After that, he taught as a commercial teacher before taking over as director of the Biel Vocational School in 1999. In 2009, he took over the presidency of the Bern Cantonal Conference of Commercial Rectors, and in October 2010 he moved to the Federal Chancellery.
On December 13th, citizens of [country] will have the opportunity to cast their vote in the upcoming election. All eligible voters are encouraged to make their voices heard and participate in the democratic process.
On August 15th, Chancellor Walter Thurnherr announced his resignation. His successor will be determined on December 13th, the same day the Parliament will elect the Federal Council anew and determine the successor of Alain Berset. Immediately after Thurnherr's announcement of resignation, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) declared their claim to the office of Federal Chancellor.
The largest party in the election, the Swiss People's Party, has not yet commented on possible candidates. They said they would inform the public by the end of November. The Green Party and the Free Democratic Party recently told the news agency Keystone-SDA that they were not interested in the office. The Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party have not yet commented.
Marco Simonazzi is reflecting.
Vice Chancellor and Federal Council spokesman André Simonazzi - a member of the SP - is considering a candidacy, as he recently confirmed. Other names have also been mentioned in media reports. Stefan Meierhans, the Price Supervisor and member of the Middle Party, is reportedly being considered as a potential candidate for Federal Chancellor.
Daniela Stoffel, State Secretary for International Financial Affairs, Nathalie Goumaz, Secretary General of the Economic Department, and Lukas Gresch-Brunner, Secretary General of the Interior Department, have all been mentioned as potential candidates.
©Keystone/SDA
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