Federal Council election 2015

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The general election of the Federal Council took place on December 9, 2015. The United Federal Assembly (both chambers of the newly elected parliament ) elected the Swiss government, the Bundesrat , for the term of office between 2016 and 2019. The seats were appointed individually in the order of the age of the seat holder.

On Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf ( BDP ), which had announced their resignation on the end of the year, followed by Guy Parmelin ( SVP ). The other previous Federal Councilors who had been nominated by their parliamentary groups for a new term of office were confirmed.

Starting position

Parliamentary groups in the Federal Assembly
13
55
7th
43
8th
46
74
13 55 7th 43 8th 46 74 
A total of 246 seats

In principle, the results of the 2015 Swiss parliamentary elections with regard to the distribution of seats in the National Council and Council of States are decisive for the election of the Federal Council. the Federal Assembly. Compared to the 2011 Federal Council elections , the distribution of seats in the Federal Assembly shifted in favor of the right-wing parties.

concordance

All major political parties in Switzerland are committed to concordance , i. H. to represent the most important political forces in the Federal Council. How the concordance should be designed in concrete terms is controversial. Depending on interests and political attitudes, arguments are based on content or arithmetic concordance. In previous elections, the main question was whether the SVP should have a second representative in the Federal Council and at whose expense. With the resignation of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, who was originally elected as SVP representative, the situation has simplified. The majority of the SVP's claim to the vacant seat is not disputed.

Disclaimer

After Widmer-Schlumpf was elected to the Federal Council, SVP Switzerland included an “exclusion clause” in its party statutes in December 2008. After that, a candidate who is not officially nominated by the SVP parliamentary group will automatically be excluded from SVP Switzerland if the election is accepted. Exclusion from a party is basically a matter for the party, but in this case it de facto leads to the situation that the SVP parliamentary group freely chooses its preferred candidate and the United Federal Assembly only has the role of confirming this election.

Three-way ticket from SVP

Preselection by a selection committee

The SVP leadership set up a selection committee to make a pre-selection of Federal Council candidates. The body was set up to prevent the Zuppiger affair from happening again. Bruno Zuppiger was nominated by the parliamentary group as a Federal Council candidate in 2011, but withdrew shortly before the election after inconsistencies in an inheritance case became known. Among other things, all candidates had to submit an extract from the criminal record to the commission. It was the task of the cantonal parties to nominate possible candidates.

On November 16, 2015, parliamentary group president Adrian Amstutz announced in front of the press that the commission had proposed seven candidates to the parliamentary group for election. The parliamentary group intends to propose a three-way ticket to the Federal Assembly. The proposed candidates were the National Councilors Thomas Aeschi (ZG), Heinz Brand (GR), Guy Parmelin (VD) and Albert Rösti (BE), as well as the Valais State Councilor Oskar Freysinger , the Ticino State Councilor Norman Gobbi and the Nidwalden Government Council Res Schmid . The Council of States Hannes Germann (SH), the National Councilors Thomas Hurter (SH) and Thomas de Courten (BL), and the Basel judge David Weiss were not proposed . The latter had withdrawn his candidacy on his own initiative. These candidates could be elected, according to Amstutz, but were not "in the foreground".

Election by the parliamentary group

The SVP parliamentary group decided on November 20, 2015 to propose to the Federal Assembly a three-way ticket with candidates from the three major language regions. All candidates had to undertake in writing beforehand that they would reject an election to the Federal Council in the event of non-nomination. The parliamentary group then elected Norman Gobbi, Guy Parmelin and Thomas Aeschi. Gobbi received 72 out of 74 valid votes in the first ballot. Guy Parmelin was also elected in the first ballot with 48 out of 78 valid votes. Oskar Freysinger received 29 votes. The election of the German-Swiss candidate took place over five ballots. Aeschi prevailed against Heinz Brand in the decisive ballot: Aeschi received 44 and Brand 37 of 82 valid votes. Res Schmid, Thomas Hurter, Hannes Germann and Thomas de Courten were eliminated in earlier ballots. The parliamentary group president Amstutz emphasized after the election that the parliamentary group would like two representatives from different language regions in the Federal Council.

elections

The United Federal Assembly elected the Federal Council in order of age. The vacant seat was last occupied. The voting mode provides the following rules. All eligible persons can be elected in the first two ballots. From the second ballot, those who receive fewer than ten votes are eliminated. No new candidacies are permitted after the third ballot. In addition, whoever receives the fewest votes is eliminated. Whoever achieves the absolute more is chosen.

First choice (seat of Doris Leuthard, CVP)

Doris Leuthard

The oldest member of the Federal Council, Doris Leuthard ( CVP ) , was the first to stand for election. Leuthard was elected to the Federal Council in 2006 and has been Head of the Federal Department for the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (DETEC) since 2010 .

1st ballot
ballot papers distributed 245
ballot papers received 245
empty / invalid 8/3
valid 234
absolute more 118
Doris Leuthard 215
Various 19th

Second choice (seat of Ueli Maurer, SVP)

Ueli Maurer

Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer ( SVP ) has been Head of the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) since his election in 2009 .

1st ballot
ballot papers distributed 245
ballot papers received 245
empty / invalid 32/3
valid 210
absolute more 106
Ueli Maurer 173
Thomas Hurter 10
Various 27

Third choice (seat of Didier Burkhalter, FDP)

Didier Burkhalter

Federal Councilor Didier Burkhalter ( FDP ) was elected in 2009 and has been Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) since 2013 .

1st ballot
ballot papers distributed 244
ballot papers received 244
empty / invalid 13/0
valid 231
absolute more 116
Didier Burkhalter 217
Various 14th

Fourth choice (seat of Simonetta Sommaruga, SP)

Simonetta Sommaruga

Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga ( SP ) has been Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) since her election in 2010 .

1st ballot
ballot papers distributed 245
ballot papers received 245
empty / invalid 19/5
valid 221
absolute more 111
Simonetta Sommaruga 182
Daniel Jositsch 11
Various 28

Fifth choice (seat of Johann Schneider-Ammann, FDP)

Johann Schneider-Ammann

Federal Councilor Johann Schneider-Ammann ( FDP ) has been Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs ( FDP ) since his election in 2010 .

1st ballot
ballot papers distributed 244
ballot papers received 244
empty / invalid 23/2
valid 219
absolute more 110
Johann Schneider-Ammann 191
Various 28

Sixth election (seat of Alain Berset, SP)

Alain Berset

Federal Councilor Alain Berset ( SP ) has been Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) since his election in 2011 .

1st ballot
ballot papers distributed 244
ballot papers received 243
empty / invalid 8/2
valid 233
absolute more 117
Alain Berset 210
Various 23

Seventh election (replacement election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, BDP)

Guy Parmelin
1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot
ballot papers distributed 245 244 243
ballot papers received 245 244 243
empty / invalid 2/0 5/0 6/0
valid 243 239 237
absolute more 122 120 119
Guy Parmelin 90 117 138
Thomas Aeschi 61 78 88
Norman Gobbi 50 30th 11
Thomas Hurter 22nd
Viola Amherd 16
Various 4th 14th

Election of the Federal Chancellor

Chancellor Corina Casanova (CVP) resigned, which made a new appointment necessary. The only proposed candidate was Walter Thurnherr (CVP). He was elected in the first ballot with 230 votes. 243 ballot papers were received, seven of which were blank and two were invalid; the absolute majority was 118. It was also the first election of a Federal Chancellor without a competitive election in 90 years.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ parliamentary groups of the 50th legislative period 2015 - 2019 ( memento of November 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on the website of the Federal Assembly, accessed on December 6, 2015.
  2. ^ The Federal Department of Finance (FDF). Federal Council , October 29, 2015, accessed on November 10, 2015 .
  3. ^ Hubert Mooser: Parliament examines SVP exclusion clause. In: Tages-Anzeiger Online. Tamedia AG, December 17, 2008, archived from the original on December 20, 2008 ; Retrieved December 7, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Andreas Fagetti: Project to power. In: WOZ Die Wochenzeitung (online). WOZ-Verlag, August 25, 2011, accessed December 7, 2015 .
  5. ↑ III. Creation and termination of membership. Art. 9, para. 3, 4 and 5. In: Swiss People's Party (SVP) statutes. Swiss People's Party, Brückfeldstrasse 18, Postfach 8252, 3001 Bern, October 4, 2008, pp. 7 - 8 , archived from the original on October 7, 2013 ; Retrieved December 7, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Oswald Sigg : You can force federal councilors on parties: very good ones. The SVP does not have the right to heave its ideal candidate into the Federal Council. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (online). NZZ Media Group , September 5, 2010, accessed on November 20, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Federal Council: These are the seven SVP candidates. In: Handelszeitung . November 16, 2015, accessed December 4, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Jan Flückiger: SVP wants a Latin in the Federal Council. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . November 20, 2015, accessed November 23, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Markus Brotschi: The possible scenarios of the Federal Council election. In: Tages-Anzeiger . December 6, 2015, accessed December 7, 2015 .
  10. ↑ National Councilor Urs Gasche was absent due to illness
  11. ↑ Marcel Amrein: The logical chancellor. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 14, 2015, accessed December 14, 2015 .