Federal Council election 1993

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Ruth Dreifuss (left) and Christiane Brunner on March 8, 1993

The 1993 Federal Council election took place on March 3 and 10, 1993. It became necessary because Federal Councilor René Felber ( SP ) submitted his resignation at the end of March for health reasons.

Election on March 3rd

The replacement election was scheduled for March 3 in the United Federal Assembly . According to the magic formula, the SP raised a claim to the seat. After Lilian Uchtenhagen was not elected in 1983, it was clear to the SP that it would demand a woman. At this point in time, the Federal Council was again a purely male body. The conventions also required a candidacy from French-speaking Switzerland. The SP parliamentary group put up a single candidate: Christiane Brunner , trade unionist and hope for the women's movement.

The candidacy met with less opposition in parliament, but very strongly among the bourgeois parties. As a divorced woman with a blended family, organizer of the women's strike and representative of the 68 generation , Brunner was an enemy of some sections of the population. The faction of the Auto Party announced that it would not support the concordance government and would elect Gilbert Coutau ( LPS ). The other groups made no statements.

Results

  1st ballot 2nd ballot
ballot papers distributed 244 244
ballot papers received 244 244
empty / invalid 5/0 2/0
valid total 239 242
absolute more 120 122
Francis Matthey Francis Matthey 117 130
Christiane Brunner Christiane Brunner 101 108
various 21st 4th

The unofficial candidate Francis Matthey was elected. He said that he and the SP needed time to think it over, after which the meeting was adjourned for a week.

consequences

The fact that Brunner was not elected was viewed as a disavowal by left-wing parties and women. The disappointment and anger were particularly significant in the female part of the population and were expressed with large rallies. For the SP and the elected Federal Councilor Francis Matthey, there were various options that were discussed: accepting the election (as in 1983), rejecting the election and setting up a compromise candidate, or rejecting the election with Brunner's renewed candidacy and going into the opposition renewed non-election. The latter would have meant the end of the magic formula.

The SP decided to run a two-way candidacy with Christiane Brunner and Ruth Dreifuss . Francis Matthey subsequently declared under great pressure from his party that he would not accept the election.

Election on March 10th

So a new election was necessary. It took place on March 10th. The SVP demanded a postponement, but this was rejected. From FDP -Abgeordneten was Vreni Spoerry brought an exploded candidacy into play, but was no majority in their group and explained therefore after the first ballot, it was not available. After the second ballot, Christiane Brunner announced that she was withdrawing her candidacy in favor of Ruth Dreifuss. Everyone else who had received votes also declared that they were not available, whereupon the Auto Party's faction left the room. Now the way was clear for the election of Ruth Dreifuss.

Results

  1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot
ballot papers distributed 242 242 229
ballot papers received 242 241 228
empty / invalid 2/1 1/1 38/0
valid total 240 238 190
absolute more 121 120 96
Ruth Dreifuss Ruth Dreifuss 92 112 144
Christiane Brunner Christiane Brunner 90 86 32
Vreni Spoerry Vreni Spoerry 54 <10 <10
Gilbert Coutau <10 14th 14th
various 4th 26th 26th

consequences

With the election of Ruth Dreifuss, the magic formula was maintained and the concordance system continued. The around 10,000 demonstrators on the Bundesplatz hesitantly accepted the election. The anger over the behavior of parliament remained and led to the so-called Brunner effect .

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