The decision was made official early Wednesday afternoon: as of March 31, Viola Amherd will no longer be a federal councilor. On this occasion, “20 minutes” retraced the route of Haut-Valaisanne.
Viola Amherd entered politics in 1992, on the municipal council of Brig (VS). Advisor during her first mandate, she became vice-president in 1996, then president from 2000 to 2012. In parallel with her activity in the local executive, she tried, in 1999, to run for a position on the Council of state. Without success. She would have more a few years later, in 2005, with an election to the National Council. The opportunity for Haut-Valais to climb the ranks of what was then the PDC, to the point of reaching the vice-presidency of the group in Parliament in 2011.
Praised by her party, it was finally in 2018 that Viola Amherd risked running for the Federal Council, to replace Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf. Elected in the first round, she then became the first Valais woman to join the Government. When she took office in 2019, she also stood out as the first woman in the country’s history to head the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports (DDPS). Re-elected to the Federal Council in 2019, appointed vice-president for the year 2023, then president of the Confederation in 2024, she has never left this department.
Among the important files managed by Viola Amherd in the Government, we can mention her involvement in the management of the conflict in Ukraine, notably with the organization of the peace summit at Bürgenstock. As head of the DDPS, she also had to manage the largest mobilization of the army since the Second World War, during Covid. She also worked to modernize, re-equip and boost the army’s budgets. A management often criticized by the UDC and the PLR. Her role as President of the Confederation in the successful conclusion of agreement negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union is another highlight of her political career.
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