Historian Altermatt pleads for a new kind of magic formula
Published: Monday, Nov 27th 2023, 08:20
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In the discussion about the future distribution of Federal Council seats, historian Urs Altermatt proposes a rotation formula. The FDP and the centrist party would share three seats - and alternate between two members of the Federal Council. In Altermatt's view, this would strengthen the political center.
"If the next FDP member of the Federal Council resigns, the seat goes to the center. If a centrist member of the Federal Council resigns later, the seat goes to the FDP," Altermatt described the proposal in an interview with the CH Media newspapers.
However, the FDP must first consider whether it wants to become the junior partner of the SVP or position itself between the center and the far right, according to the historian.
The background to this is that the centrist party and the FDP were almost on a par in terms of voter share in the National Council elections in October - and that the centrist party has more seats in the Federal Assembly overall, but only one member of the Federal Council.
"Pfister misses the momentum"
Center Party President Gerhard Pfister and Center Party parliamentary group leader Philipp Bregy confirmed at a media conference on Friday that they would not be contesting Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis' seat in the Federal Council elections in December. In the medium term, however, the Center Party is aiming for a second seat in the national government.
"This means he is missing out on the momentum of success in 2023," said Altermatt on Pfister's strategy. If no FDP member of the Federal Council steps down by 2027, there is a good chance that the second seat of the Free Democrats will go to the Greens.
Urs Altermatt was Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Fribourg until his retirement in 2010. His research focused on the history of the Swiss political system and the country's political parties.
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