Federal Councilor for the Center Viola Amherd has announced her departure at the end of March. The carousel of candidates for his succession is starting to turn. The party informs on Monday about the procedure and timetable for the election. Overview of the names circulating, mainly of German-speaking men:
In the race
MARTIN CANDINAS: The Grisons national councilor, aged 44, has not yet wanted to comment on a possible candidacy. “Today, the question is not who will succeed him. Today, we must pay tribute to the enormous work of Federal Councilor Viola Amherd,” he told Keystone-ATS after the announcement of the latter’s resignation. Mr. Candinas has been a national councilor since 2011. In 2022/2023 he was president of the National Council and formally the first citizen of Switzerland. From 2012 to 2021, he was a member of the presidency of what was then the Swiss PDC. This trained social insurance specialist sits on the Security Policy Committee and the Transport and Telecommunications Committee.
PIRMIN BISHOP: The Solothurn state councilor has been in politics since 2007 under the Federal Dome, from 2007 to 2011 as national councilor and since then as state councilor. This lawyer’s handicap could be his age, since he is already 65 years old. He works in no fewer than four committees and deals with issues related to the economy, health, environmental and energy policy as well as foreign policy. Before the election of Viola Amherd, he had given up running for the Federal Council out of consideration for his family.
STEFAN ENGLER: The 64-year-old Grison has been a state councilor since 2011 and is currently first vice-president of the Chamber of Cantons – he will probably become president of the Council of States next year. It mainly deals with themes related to the environment, energy, land use planning and transport. He is also a member of the Committee on Political Institutions. Former state councilor of his canton, he can boast of executive experience.
PHILIPP KUTTER : The Zurich national councilor from the center Philipp Kutter has expressed his interest in the seat of the outgoing federal councilor. He is currently examining whether, despite his quadriplegia, he can be a candidate to succeed Viola Amherd. “I am in principle considering the possibility of running for the post of federal councilor,” he told the Sonntagszeitung. For him, a federal councilor in a wheelchair would be a strong sign in favor of inclusion.
-Waivers
GERHARD PFISTER: The president of the Center, Gerhard Pfister, who will leave office this summer, does not want to become a federal councilor. He decided not to run as a candidate to succeed Viola Amherd, he said in an interview with Tagesanzeiger. He of course wondered if he could take on this role. “In all modesty, I would feel capable of taking on this role,” he said. But he also wondered if this role would suit him. And he came to the conclusion that no. Those who know him know that he would not be a happy federal councilor. He likes to debate and fight: “For that, I need a certain personal freedom.” As party president he has this freedom, but as federal councilor he would “certainly no longer have it.
PHILIPP MATTHIAS BREGY: For the Upper Valais national councilor and head of the parliamentary group of the Center Party, Philipp Matthias Bregy, a candidacy for the Federal Council “is not currently in the equation”, he declared in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag. He seriously considered a candidacy. His decision was motivated by his family. The 46-year-old lawyer is currently a member of the Economics Committee and the Legal Affairs Committee, but has also dealt with transport policy in previous years.
BENEDIKT WÜRTH: The 57-year-old St. Gallen States Councilor has already indicated that he is not running for office. “Becoming a federal councilor is no longer part of my life plans. For me, this subject is closed,” he said. He also refused to run for president of the Center party. A lawyer by profession and former member of his canton’s government, Mr. Würth has been an advisor to the States since June 2019. He is versatile thematically. He is a member of the Finance Committee, the Foreign Policy Committee, the Environment Committee and the Science, Education and Culture Committee.
ISABELLE CHASSOT: The Friborg state councilor recently appeared in the spotlight as president of the parliamentary commission of inquiry (CEP) into Credit Suisse and gained national notoriety. At 59, she has experience of the government of her canton, but also of the Confederation as former director of the Federal Office of Culture. However, she does not want to become a federal councilor, as she declared to RTS before Ms. Amherd’s resignation. She lacks the desire, she said. She wants to concentrate on her political activity in the Council of States after the end of the work of the CEP.
