After the election, there is praise for Jans and criticism of his voting behavior
Published: Wednesday, Dec 13th 2023, 17:00
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According to the left-wing parties, the majority of the FDP and SVP in the Federal Council no longer has a basis. In the opinion of the FDP, however, the Federal Assembly has committed itself to "stability".
The United Federal Assembly re-elected the two FDP members of the Federal Council Ignazio Cassis and Karin Keller-Sutter on Wednesday. The Greens' attack on an FDP seat failed.
The magic formula "according to which the three strongest parties are entitled to two seats in the Federal Council and the fourth strongest party is entitled to one seat", together with the non-selection of incumbent members of the Federal Council, is a strength of Switzerland that should not be given up lightly, the FDP wrote in a press release.
Leftists criticize bourgeois majority
In an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency, Gerhard Andrey, the Greens' unelected candidate for the Federal Council, complained that a quarter of the electorate was not represented in the national government. The Greens emphasized in a statement that they would continue to assert their claim to representation in the Federal Council in the future.
According to a statement, the SP also regretted that the SVP and FDP still have a majority in the Federal Council after Wednesday's elections. According to the SP, open threats had been made to harm the SP in the final ballot if it were to speak out against Federal Councillor Cassis. Against this backdrop, a majority of the SP parliamentary group had also endorsed the FDP Federal Councillor.
The Young Socialists went one step further. On Wednesday, the Young Socialists demanded that the two SP federal councillors, including the newly elected Beat Jans, withdraw from the Federal Council. Only when the Federal Assembly is ready to end the FDP-SVP majority should the SP rejoin the government as a minority, the Young Socialists announced on Wednesday.
Criticism of votes for Jositsch
The fact that many members of the Federal Assembly did not adhere to the SP's official Federal Council ticket also led to criticism after the elections. In the election of the successor to SP Federal Councillor Alain Berset, Daniel Jositsch, who was not on the SP ticket, received more votes than the official candidate from Graubünden, Jon Pult.
He told the media that he had taken note of this: "The parliamentary groups all declared that they would stick to the ticket. In the end, a large number of them did not keep this promise." Everyone can judge for themselves how credible this is.
Grisons councillor Franziska Preisig (SP) criticized this to Keystone-SDA as "dishonest" voting behaviour. Mattea Meyer, Co-President of the SP Switzerland, accused the conservatives on Swiss-German television SRF that some of their parliamentary group members had not stuck to the ticket.
SVP President Marco Chiesa affirmed: "We made a decision and chose someone from the ticket." He assumed that the members of the Council of States had voted for Jositsch. FDP President Thierry Burkart also said that practically all of the FDP's votes had gone to the ticket.
Compliments for Jans
Nevertheless, the parties were satisfied with the election of SP Federal Council candidate Beat Jans from Basel. Pult, who was defeated in the election, praised him. "He is a companion, a friend and a very good politician. He will make an excellent Federal Councillor," Pult told the media. In a statement, the center also expressed its delight at Jans' election. His election will ensure the stability of the institutions, they wrote in a statement.
His home canton of Basel-Stadt was particularly pleased with Jans' election. The election of Jans is a great honor for Basel-Stadt and the entire region, said Lukas Engelberger (center), Vice President of the Basel government, to Keystone-SDA in the Federal Palace. Jans will do his job very well.
©Keystone/SDA
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