Anciennity to magic formula: Facts about the Federal Council elections
Published: Wednesday, Dec 13th 2023, 04:50
Updated At: Wednesday, Dec 13th 2023, 04:50
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At the start of each new legislative term, the United Federal Assembly elects the federal government and the Federal Chancellor. Six members of the Federal Council are standing for re-election today, Wednesday. SP Federal Councillor Alain Berset and centrist Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr must be replaced. Below is some information on the election:
ANCIENNITY: The members of the Federal Council are elected individually and one after the other, starting with the incumbents who are standing for re-election. The exact order is determined by the age of office. Guy Parmelin (SVP) is therefore first in line. He was elected to the Federal Government in December 2015 and is now the longest-serving member of the Federal Council. This is followed by the re-election of Ignazio Cassis (FDP). The Ticino native has been a member of the Federal Government since 2017. Next in line are Viola Amherd (center) and Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP); both have been Federal Councillors since the beginning of 2019. Albert Rösti (SVP) and Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP), who were newly elected a year ago, bring up the rear.
REPLACEMENT ELECTION: Alain Berset (SP), currently the longest-serving Federal Councillor, is stepping down at the end of the year after twelve years in office. His seat must therefore be reassigned on Wednesday, which will take place after the six incumbents have been confirmed. The SP parliamentary group has nominated Beat Jans, President of the Basel cantonal government and former National Councillor, and Jon Pult, National Councillor from Graubünden, to succeed Berset. Both will have to answer questions from the parliamentary groups in hearings. The parliamentary groups will then decide who they want to vote for. Voting is by secret ballot, so that as a rule no one knows who ultimately voted for whom. It is customary in parliament to vote according to the nominating group's candidate ticket. However, there is no obligation to do so. Surprises can therefore not be ruled out.
ELECTIONS: Parliamentary law stipulates how the elections are to be conducted. The person who clears the absolute majority hurdle, i.e. receives half of the valid votes plus one, is elected. The number of ballots is unlimited. All eligible candidates can be elected in the first two ballots. From the third ballot onwards, no new candidates are permitted. And from the second ballot onwards, anyone who has received fewer than ten votes is eliminated. From the third ballot onwards, the candidate who has received the fewest votes is no longer eligible, unless two or more people have received the same number of votes.
MAGIC FORMULA: Since 1943, all major parties have been represented in the national government; the magic formula is decisive for the distribution of seats. The SVP, SP and FDP each currently have two members of the Federal Council and the center one. Following the electoral success of the Greens four years ago and the poor results of the FDP in the national elections last fall, the magic formula is being called into question. The Greens believe it is no longer up to date. They therefore want to take one seat from the FDP, which they see as overrepresented, with the candidacy of Fribourg National Councillor Gerhard Andrey. The Center Party, on the other hand, which was successful in the recent elections, is aiming for a second seat in the Federal Council in the medium term. However, the party leadership assures that it does not want to vote out any incumbent members of the Federal Council. According to a recent survey commissioned by the news portal Watson, a clear majority of the population would like to see a different composition of the Federal Council. Supporters of a change are mainly found among the supporters of the Greens, SP, GLP and the Center Party.
REGIONS: Since 1999, the constitution has stipulated that the national regions and language regions must be "adequately" represented in the Federal Council. Based on the proportion of the population, just under a third of the Council should come from the French, Italian and Romansh-speaking regions. That would be around 2.3 members of the Federal Council. However, since the election of Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP) from Jura a year ago, the "Latin" language area has been clearly overrepresented: Baume-Schneider, Alain Berset (SP) from Fribourg, Guy Parmelin (SVP) from Vaud and Ignazio Cassis (FDP) from Ticino sit opposite Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP) from St. Gallen, Viola Amherd (center) from Upper Valais and Albert Rösti (SVP) from Bern. As two Swiss-German candidates are running to succeed Berset, this is likely to be corrected on Wednesday. Another recurring criticism is that, with the exception of Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP) - who lives in Wil SG - all members of the government live in rural communities.
CANTONS: The SP parliamentary group has nominated a man from Basel-Stadt and a man from Graubünden as candidates to succeed Alain Berset from Fribourg. If elected, Beat Jans would be the third Federal Councillor from Basel-Stadt. The last member of the government from Basel was the Social Democrat Hans-Peter Tschudi, who stepped down at the end of 1973. The city-canton has not been represented in the federal government for fifty years. Jon Pult would be the fifth Federal Councillor from Graubünden. The last representative from this canton was Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (BDP), who stepped down in 2015. The cantons of Zurich, Bern and Vaud were or are almost always represented in the government. However, there are also cantons that have never had a member of the Federal Council: Schaffhausen, Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden.
FEDERAL PRESIDENCY: The President of the Swiss Confederation and the Vice-President of the Federal Council will also be elected individually and consecutively on Wednesday for a one-year term of office. According to the rotation principle, Viola Amherd (center) is the candidate for the presidency. Karin Keller-Sutter from the Free Democratic Party is likely to become Vice-President. Although the election to the presidency of the Federal Council is considered a formality, it is often used by Council members to express their disapproval or approval of members of the government. The best result in recent decades was achieved by SVP Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer in 2018 with 201 votes. The worst result to date was achieved by Micheline Calmy-Rey (SP) in 2011 with 106 votes. The President of the Swiss Confederation is the "first" or "first among equals". He or she chairs the meetings of the Federal Council and assumes special representational duties. In Switzerland, the function of head of state is assumed by the full Federal Council. To date, Switzerland has had a female president eight times.
DEPARTMENTAL DISTRIBUTION: The resignation of Alain Berset (SP) leaves the important Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) vacant. The seven departments will be redistributed by the newly composed Federal Council. The principle of seniority plays a central role here: whoever has been in office for longer will first choose which department he or she wants to head. The newcomer must take whatever is left over. The distribution of departments is only voted on if the seven members of the Federal Council cannot agree. Little is known so far about any desire to change before the upcoming distribution round. However, there is speculation that Foreign Minister and doctor Ignazio Cassis (FDP) could move to the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for healthcare.
FEDERAL CHANCELLOR: On Wednesday, Parliament must also appoint a successor to the resigning Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr (center). The SVP and the GLP have announced their candidacies. Lukas Gresch-Brunner, non-party Secretary General of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA), also wants to succeed Thurnherr. The SVP has put forward Gabriel Lüchinger and Nathalie Goumaz, and the GLP candidate is the current Vice-Chancellor Viktor Rossi. The second Vice-Chancellor and Federal Council spokesman André Simonazzi (SP) has decided not to stand. This would be the first time that the SVP and the GLP have held the office of Federal Chancellor. To date, one female chancellor and eight male chancellors have been members of the FDP. The former CVP and current centrist party has so far provided one female chancellor and three male chancellors, while the SP has provided one male chancellor. The Federal Chancellor is the Chief of Staff of the Federal Council and attends its meetings. He or she has an advisory vote and can submit motions.
FEDERAL COUNCIL SALARY: The gross annual salary of members of the Federal Council will be around CHF 472,000 from January 1, 2024. The salary will be adjusted in line with inflation, but according to the Swiss government portal, there will be no real salary increase. There will also be a lump-sum expenses allowance of currently CHF 30,000 per year. The President of the Swiss Confederation also receives an additional allowance of CHF 12,000 during the presidential year. The Confederation also covers the costs of telecommunications (landline, cell phone, PC). Members of the government pay their own radio and television fees. Members of the Federal Council and the Federal Chancellor are entitled to a representative car and an official car. Private use of the car is charged at 0.9 percent of the new price per month. Each member of the government receives a 1st class SBB GA travelcard and a GA travelcard for the cable cars in Switzerland.
©Keystone/SDA
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