Viktor Rossi (GLP) rises from Vice-Chancellor to Federal Chancellor
Published: Wednesday, Dec 13th 2023, 17:20
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GLP member Viktor Rossi succeeds Walter Thurnherr (center) as Federal Chancellor. The former Vice-Chancellor easily won the election on Wednesday. He received 135 out of 245 valid votes in the second ballot. The three other candidates had no chance.
Rossi was the first of the four candidates to officially throw his hat into the ring. He knows the Federal Chancellery inside out. He has been Vice-Chancellor since May 2019 and heads the Federal Council division of the Federal Chancellery.
The Federal Council division headed by Rossi includes the section that handles the 2,500 or so items of business that the Federal Council adopts each year. This section also organizes the response to around 1,300 parliamentary procedural requests each year. As Vice-Chancellor, Rossi is present at the weekly meetings of the Federal Council.
Continuity in the Federal Chancellery
In his first major appearance before the media in the Federal Palace, the 55-year-old said he wanted to drive forward digitalization in the Federal Administration. The early detection of crises is also something that the Federal Council and the Federal Chancellor will have to pay attention to.
"I stand for continuity at the head of the Federal Chancellery and would like to consistently drive forward the digitalization of the administration," said Rossi, a Swiss-Italian dual citizen born in 1968, in the run-up to the election.
Rossi trained as a chef and then studied economics and law. He then taught as a commercial teacher before becoming director of the vocational college in Biel in 1999. In 2009, he took over the presidency of the Commercial Rectors' Conference of the Canton of Berne. In October 2010, he moved to the Federal Chancellery.
He therefore has management experience, said Rossi at the media conference. His management style is tried and tested.
Rossi visibly moved
In his inaugural speech to the Federal Assembly, Rossi said that he would do everything in his power to fulfill this great task. The Federal Chancellery should be a good partner to the Federal Assembly.
In his speech, Rossi referred to his migrant background. His parents had come to Switzerland from southern Italy and southern Carinthia in the 1950s in the hope of a better life. "This country, which was foreign to them at the time, quickly became our country, our Switzerland. I can hardly put into words what it means to me to be here now."
First GLP Federal Chancellor
Rossi is the first Federal Chancellor from the ranks of the GLP. According to Rossi, this party was unaware of his party membership when he became Vice-Chancellor in May 2019. To date, one female chancellor and eight male chancellors have been FDP members. 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 has an advisory vote and can submit motions. He is commonly referred to as the "eighth Federal Councillor".
Center renounces office
In the race for the office of Federal Chancellor alongside Rossi were SVP members Gabriel Lüchinger and Nathalie Goumaz as well as the independent Lukas Gresch-Brunner. Only Lüchinger was able to challenge Rossi to some extent. He received 103 votes in the second ballot.
Three of the four Federal Council parties decided not to stand for election in advance for tactical reasons, according to media reports. The Center Party, which has held the office of Federal Chancellor since 2008 with Thurnherr and previously Corina Casanova, no longer laid claim to it either. In the medium term, the Center Party is aiming for a second seat in the Federal Council.
©Keystone/SDA
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