SP and Basel Region at the head of the council presidencies
Published: Wednesday, Dec 6th 2023, 11:20
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From time to time, the presidency of the Council is held by members of parliament from the same canton. However, a coincidence of party and region like this year is rare.
At the start of the 2023 winter session, the Council presidencies for 2023/24 were filled by Eric Nussbaumer (National Councillor) from the canton of Basel-Landschaft and Eva Herzog (Councillor of States) from Basel-Stadt. Although the two SP party members Nussbaumer and Herzog do not represent the same canton, they do represent the two half-cantons.
The last time there was a congruence between canton and party was in 1955/56, when the canton of Bern was able to appoint two representatives of the then BGB (Farmers' and Trades Party) to the presidency of the Council. Paul Burgdorfer presided over the large chamber, Jakob Rudolf Weber over the small chamber.
In 1952/53, the canton of St. Gallen had two representatives of the then CVP at the head of the small and large chambers: Thomas Holenstein became the highest Swiss politician and Johann Schmucki presided over the Council of States.
In 1907/08, the canton of Basel Stadt was well represented in the Federal Parliament, not with parliamentarians from the same party, but at least with the same first name: Paul Speiser (Liberal Group, L) presided over the National Council, Paul Scherrer (FDP-Liberal Group, RL) presided over the Council of States.
In 1982/1983 and 1949/50, both presidencies came from the canton of Solothurn, and in 1953/54 both from Neuchâtel.
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