SP examination committee approves all six candidates for nomination
Published: Saturday, Nov 4th 2023, 14:01
Updated At: Sunday, Nov 5th 2023, 00:54
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The SP Switzerland's independent examination committee approves all six SP candidates for nomination to succeed Federal Councillor Alain Berset. The nomination will be made by the SP parliamentary group on November 25. Election day is December 13.
The party announced this conclusion on Saturday after a thorough examination of the candidates. During the "intensive hearings", the political and personal skills were examined and the candidates were "asked about any risks in the sense of a security check".
Starting next Monday, Matthias Aebischer and Evi Allemann from Bern, Beat Jans from Basel, Daniel Jositsch from Zurich, Roger Nordmann from Vaud and Jon Pult from Graubünden will present themselves to party members and the public at four public hearings. These hearings will take place in Geneva, Biel, Olten and Schaffhausen.
In general, it can be expected that Swiss-German politicians will be in pole position because of the SP Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider from French-speaking Switzerland. The Greens have decided not to contest any of the SP seats, but an FDP seat instead.
One woman and five men
Bernese government councillor Allemann is the only woman to enter the race as a possible successor to Berset. Observers believe her chances of making the leap into the national government in her second attempt are rather slim.
National Councillor Roger Nordmann from Vaud is considered a political heavyweight and is the only French-speaking Swiss in the race. His candidacy is not that of a Romand, but a cross-linguistic one and that of a Swiss, he says. A third French-speaking Swiss in the national government is therefore a distinct possibility.
Graubünden National Councillor Jon Pult, who describes himself as a trilingual Grisons native, is regarded as one of the SP's greatest talents and a good rhetorician. Pult has not yet held an executive office.
Political observers see Beat Jans from Basel as one of the favorites for the government post. He has been President of the Government and Head of the Presidential Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt since 2021. He was a member of the National Council from 2010 to 2020. During his time as a federal parliamentarian, he was Vice President of the SP Switzerland for five years.
Bernese National Councillor Matthias Aebischer has been a member of the National Council for almost twelve years. If Aebischer or Allemann are elected, the canton of Bern would be represented twice in the national government.
Zurich SP member of the Council of States Daniel Jositsch is once again running for the office of Federal Councillor. Last year, Jositsch did not make it onto the official ticket of his parliamentary group because women's candidacies for the successor to Simonetta Sommaruga were in the foreground at the time. Jositsch is considered a representative of the right wing of the SP.
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