Claude Lässer

Claude Lässer

Claude Lässer (born August 29, 1949 in Payerne ) is a Swiss politician ( FDP ).

Life

Reformed, from Buchholterberg (BE). His parents are Friedrich Lässer, sales representative, and Nelly geb. Rossier, factory worker. He is the youngest of three children and French is his mother tongue. In 1986 he married Marie-Jeanne Pessina from Ticino, who is French-speaking and Catholic. Lässer lives in Marly and is married. He is entitled to live in Buchholterberg.

After primary school in Freiburg, he attended St. Michael's College , from which he graduated with a commercial Matura. In 1968 he enrolled at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Freiburg and graduated in 1972 with a licentiate.

As an employee of a major bank, he completed internships in Germany and England. After returning to Switzerland, he worked for his employer in Zurich until 1979. He then reoriented himself professionally and worked for his new community of residence, Marly, as an economist who was responsible for the financial services, and as general secretary. In 1985 he moved to the photo chemistry company Ilford AG, whose HR manager he became, and in 1989 to Ciba-Geigy AG, where he was promoted to administrative director until 1992. In the army he is a lieutenant colonel.

In 1986, 37-year-old Claude Lässer began to actively pursue politics. On the free-spirited list, he was elected to Marly parish council and took over the finances. From the beginning of his activity as Vice-Mayor, he was elected Ammann in 1991. From 1986 he sat on the board of the Gérine-Nesslera Association for Wastewater Treatment, and since 1988 he has been a member of the cantonal advisory commission for administrative matters in hospitals. In the same year he took over the presidency of the board of trustees of the «Les Epinettes» nursing home.

In 1991 he was elected to the Grand Council. He sat on the important cantonal economics commission from the start and belonged to the influential group of ammen represented in parliament. From 1993 he presided over the cantonal commission for informatics in education.

In 1996 his party nominated him as a candidate for the State Council elections, and on December 8 he was elected in the second round. In the government he took over the building management, which was responsible for spatial planning, environment and buildings. Three important dossiers claimed his attention: the Freiburg waste incineration plant, the Bulle bypass and the Poya Bridge. On June 10, 2001, the commitment credit for the second of these projects was approved in the referendum with 68% of the vote. The people also voted on the third, but at a time - on September 24, 2006 - when Claude Lässer was already finance director.

In 2004 he took over the financial management of Urs Schwaller, who moved to the Council of States. He developed a strategy not to increase income through taxes, but by improving the cantonal income from economic activities with high added value. At the same time, he was able to gradually reduce the national debt, mainly thanks to the gold sales of the National Bank, the proceeds of which went to the cantons. In addition, the canton's invoices were in the black. In the 2006 general election, the Finance Director was re-elected in the second ballot to head the contestants.

As head of the finance department, Claude Lässer presided over the board of the pension fund of the state staff of the canton of Friborg. He sat on the board of the Swiss Finance Directors' Conference and on the boards of the following companies: Groupe E, EOS Holding SA, Alpiq SA, Freiburger Kantonalbank, Freiburgische Verkehrsbetriebe and Schweizer Rheinsalinen AG.

At the end of his third term, he left the State Council on December 31, 2011 at the age of 62, which he presided over in 2003 and 2009. As finance director, he was pleased to have put in place a tax cut program year after year. Elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Groupe E in 2011, he retained his mandate on the Board of Directors of Alpiq SA.

literature

• Georges Andrey , John Clerc, Jean-Pierre Dorand et Nicolas Gex: The Freiburg Council of State: 1848–2011. History, organization, members . Editions La Sarine, Freiburg 2012, ISBN 978-2-88355-153-4 .

Web links

• Claude Lässer on the website of the State Council of the Canton of Friborg
• Claude Lässer on the website of the Freiburg FDP (accessed February 25, 2009)
• Claude Lässer celebrated - Marly received his President , in Freiburger Nachrichten of December 16, 2002 (accessed on February 25, 2009) (PDF file; 112 kB)