Councillor of States Thierry Burkart runs again for FDP presidency
Published: Thursday, Feb 29th 2024, 14:40
Updated At: Thursday, Feb 29th 2024, 14:40
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Aargau Council of States member Thierry Burkart is standing for another two-year term as President of the FDP despite his party's election defeat in October 2023. Burkart has been party president since 2021. The 48-year-old lawyer from Baden AG was a member of the National Council from 2015 and of the Council of States from 2019.
Burkart was last confirmed as a member of the Council of States in the first round of the federal elections last October. However, his party lost one seat in both the Council of States and the National Council in the federal elections.
Most recently, Burkart said at the FDP delegates' meeting in Zug in January that the party had missed its target for the 2023 elections. One of the reasons he cited was the "debacle surrounding Credit Suisse". This had had a negative impact on the public's perception of the party.
Jonas Projer proposed as Secretary General
Former "Arena" presenter Jonas Projer is to become FDP Secretary General, the party announced on Thursday. If elected, Projer will take up his position at the beginning of July 2024. The 42-year-old from Zurich previously worked as a journalist and television presenter. Among other things, he also worked for Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) as EU correspondent in Brussels and from 2021 to 2023 as editor-in-chief of "NZZ am Sonntag".
The current Secretary General Jon Fanzun will not be standing for re-election. He has decided to seek a new professional challenge, the statement continued. He also wanted to give the party the opportunity to go into the 2027 federal elections with a new Secretary General with sufficient lead time.
Vice-Chairmanship still needs to be completed
Councillor of States Andrea Caroni (AR), National Councillor Andri Silberschmidt (ZH) and Alessandra Gianella (Ticino) are running for the Vice-Presidency again, according to the information provided.
Johanna Gapany, member of the Council of States in Fribourg, and Philippe Nantermod, member of the National Council in Valais, have decided not to run for another term in the Vice-Presidency. After three and eight years respectively, both want to spend more time with their young families.
The party leadership has already started the process of completing the Vice-Presidency with representatives from French-speaking Switzerland. The presidency and party executive committee are to be elected at the FDP delegates' meeting on June 22.
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