Wikipedia

2023 Swiss Federal Council election

An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, Switzerland's government, were held on 13 December 2023 for the 2024–2028 term. It followed the federal election held a month earlier and partly depended on its results.

2023 Swiss Federal Council election
← 2019 (regular)
← 2022 (by-)		 13 December 2023 2027 (regular) →
All 7 Federal Councillors
  First party Second party
 
Party Swiss People's Social Democrats
Elected Guy Parmelin
215 votes 		Élis. Baume-Schneider
151 votes
  Albert Rösti
189 votes 		Beat Jans
134 votes
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party FDP.The Liberals The Centre
Elected Karin Keller-Sutter
176 votes 		Viola Amherd
201 votes
  Ignazio Cassis
167 votes

All Federal Councillors except Alain Berset were running for re-election. Per an informal agreement between the political parties known as the magic formula, incumbents are traditionally left unopposed and open seats are only contested by the incumbent's party, ensuring the partisan balance. The federal assembly elected Beat Jans to replace Alain Berset after three rounds of voting. All other councillors were re-elected.

Elections for President of the Swiss Confederation and Vice President of the Federal Council, as well as for Chancellor of Switzerland, also took place; Federal Councillor Viola Amherd was elected president for the year 2024 following an informal rotation agreement. After the election the federal departements were reshuffled. The Federal Department of Home Affairs (formerly led by Alain Berset) is now being led by Élisabeth Baume-Schneider, whose former department, the Federal Department of Justice and Police, is now being led by newly-elected Beat Jans.

Background edit

In Switzerland, the 7-seat executive Federal Council is elected by the Federal Assembly (both chambers of the legislature sitting together); in practice it is apportioned between the parties following the unwritten agreement known as the "magic formula". The formula was followed from 1959 to 2003 and in a different composition between 2003 and 2007 and again since 2015. Since 2016 the composition has been: SVP 2 seats, SP 2 seats, FDP 2 seats, and Die Mitte (succeeding the CVP) 1 seat.

Federal councillors are traditionally re-elected until they step down; only four have ever lost re-election. Councillors tend to stand down during their term in order to ensure their party retains their seat and to allow their party to get more visibility at a moment other than shortly after a general election.[1] These by-elections were held only ten months before the 2023 federal election.

On 21 June 2023, a few days after the results of the June referendums, social-democratic councillor Alain Berset announced he would resign effective 31 December, after serving for 12 years. He described the referendum of the amendment to the COVID-19 Act as an end to "the Covid cycle", which defined his third term as head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs.[2] Following the existing precedent, only SP candidates were expected to stand for his seat.

In the previous Federal Council elections in 2022 when Simonetta Sommaruga resigned, her party, the SP chose to only nominate women as to ensure that the gender balance on the council would not be disturbed. Daniel Jositsch who had previously announced to run in 2022, then had to retract his candidacy but nevertheless received a significant amount of protest votes. During that election, he did not publicly encourage the federal assembly to not vote for him, which has been criticised by members of his party. Jositsch again stood for the nomination in 2023. After not being chosen, there was speculation that he would again receive protest votes, possibly even being elected in spite of not being nominated by his party.

Moreover, the Green party called the distribution of the Federal Council into question as they had previously done in 2019 on the ground that the right-wing parties SVP and FDP were in a majority on the Federal Council but had lost that majority in the federal assembly. Hence, they announced they would attack an unspecified seat of the FDP. While the SP shared the greens point of view, they did not officially support the green bid due to the other parties announcing that if the green candidate were to be elected the other parties would not support the official candidates of the SP in the election to succeed Alain Berset, which was to happen after the other members election.

The retirement of Alain Berset left the position of head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs open for the first time since 2011.

Electoral system edit

A person is elected if they receive an absolute majority of the valid votes cast. If no one receives an absolute majority the voting proceeds via an exhaustive ballot, each seat being filled independently. The order in which the seats are filled is the order of seniority of the members of the council standing for re-election and then the vacant seats (in order of seniority of the councillors that previously held these now vacant seats). In the first two rounds members of the Federal Assembly can vote for anyone eligible, but only those receiving at least ten votes are announced in the results; from the third round onwards only candidates who received at least ten votes in one of the first two rounds are eligible, the last-placed candidate is eliminated until someone reaches an overall majority.[3][4] The ballots are cast in secret.

Federal Assembly edit

The composition of the Federal Assembly will depend on the composition of the National Council and Council of States after the 2023 Swiss federal election.

50
26
11
46
39
74
Parliamentary group Parties NR SR Total %
Group of the Swiss People's Party SVP, Lega, EDU, MCG 67 7 74 30.1%
Social Democratic group SP 41 9 50 20.3%
The Centre group. The Centre. EVP DM, EVP 31 15 46 18.7%
FDP-Liberal group FDP 28 11 39 15.8%
Green group GPS 23 3 26 10.6%
Green Liberal group GLP 10 1 11 4.5%

Candidates for the Federal Council edit

Incumbents edit

Incumbents, in descending order of seniority, including political party affiliation and department at the time of the election:

Candidates to Berset's seat edit

Declared edit

The following individuals had announced their candidacy:

Beat Jans and Jon Pult have been officially nominated by their party on a ticket to fill the seat vacancy created by Alain Berset.

Potential edit

The following individuals had been subject of speculation about their potential candidacy:[2][11]

Declined to be candidate edit

The following individual has been the subject of speculation about her possible candidacy, but has publicly denied interest in running.

Candidates to other seats edit

The Greens re-affirmed their claim to a seat in the Council, preferably the FDP seat of Ignazio Cassis, despite losing vote share in the October elections and nominated the following individual.[2][13] This candidacy was not supported by any other parliamentary group in the federal assembly.

Candidates for Federal Chancellor edit

Due to the vacancy created by the resignation of Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr (The Centre), the following individuals had announced their candidacy:

Results edit

Open seat vacated by Alain Berset edit

Following the retirement of the incumbent President and Federal Councillor Alain Berset (SP-FR), an election of the replacement has been held. Beat Jans (SP-BS), Basel-Stadt executive councillor since 2021, has been elected member of the Federal Council in the third round of voting with 134 votes, beating states councillor Daniel Jositsch (SP-ZH), who received votes despite not being nominated by any parliamentary group, and national councillor Jon Pult (SP-GR).

Candidate Party Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Beat Jans SP 89 112 134
Daniel Jositsch SP 63 70 68
Jon Pult SP 49 54 43
Gerhard Andrey GPS 30
Others 12 10 0
Valid votes 243 246 245
Absolute majority 122 124 123
Invalid votes 0 0 0
Blank votes 3 0 0
Votes cast 246 246 245

Seat held by Guy Parmelin edit

Guy Parmelin (SVP-VD) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Guy Parmelin SVP 215
Others 18
Valid votes 233
Absolute majority 117
Invalid votes 1
Blank votes 12
Votes cast 246

Seat held by Ignazio Cassis edit

Ignazio Cassis (FDP-TI) was reelected in the first round of voting. The Greens decided to challenge both FDP.The Liberals seats in the Federal Council as they had done in the 2019 elections and fielded Green Party national councillor Gerhard Andrey to challenge the seats. His candidacy presumably gathered green and some green liberal votes (the votes are cast in secret), but failed to get social democratic voters, thus Ignazio Cassis was re-elected outright without a second round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Ignazio Cassis FDP 167
Gerhard Andrey GPS 59
Others 13
Valid votes 239
Absolute majority 120
Invalid votes 2
Blank votes 5
Votes cast 246

Seat held by Viola Amherd edit

Viola Amherd (DM-VS) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Viola Amherd DM 201
Others 27
Valid votes 228
Absolute majority 115
Invalid votes 2
Blank votes 16
Votes cast 246

Seat held by Karin Keller-Sutter edit

Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP-SG) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Karin Keller-Sutter FDP 176
Anna Giacometti FDP 15
Gerhard Andrey GPS 15
Others 18
Valid votes 224
Absolute majority 11
Invalid votes 1
Blank votes 21
Votes cast 246

Seat held by Albert Rösti edit

Albert Rösti (SVP-BE) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Albert Rösti SVP 189
Others 28
Valid votes 217
Absolute majority 109
Invalid votes 2
Blank votes 26
Votes cast 245

Seat held by Élisabeth Baume-Schneider edit

Élisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP-JU) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Élisabeth Baume-Schneider SP 151
Gerhard Andrey GPS 23
Eva Herzog SP 15
Others 27
Valid votes 216
Absolute majority 109
Invalid votes 2
Blank votes 28
Votes cast 246

Additional votes edit

Federal Chancellor edit

2023 Swiss chancellor election
 
← 2019 13 December 2023 2027 →
All 246 votes of the Federal Assembly
124 votes needed to win
   
SVP
Candidate Viktor Rossi Gabriel Lüchinger
Party Green Liberals Swiss People's
First ballot 98 78
Second ballot 135 103
 
Ind
SVP
Candidate Lukas Gresch-Brunner Nathalie Goumaz
Party Independent Swiss People's
First ballot 45 24
Chancellor before election

Walter Thurnherr
The Centre

Elected Chancellor

Viktor Rossi
Green Liberals

The Federal Chancellor is a technocratic position and not a voting member of the Federal Council, but they are elected after the seven ministers using the same rules.

Following the resignation of the incumbent Chancellor Walter Thurnherr (The Centre), an election of the replacement has been held. Viktor Rossi (GLP), a Vice-Chancellor since 2019, has been elected a new Chancellor in the second round of voting with 135 votes, beating Gabriel Lüchinger (SVP).[14]

Candidate Party Round 1 Round 2
Viktor Rossi GLP 98 135
Gabriel Lüchinger SVP 78 103
Lukas Gresch-Brunner Independent 45
Nathalie Goumaz SVP 24
Others 1 7
Valid votes 246 245
Absolute majority 124 124
Invalid votes 0 1
Blank votes 0 0
Votes cast 246 246

President of the Confederation edit

2023 Swiss presidential election
 
← 2022 13 December 2023 2024 →
   
Candidate Viola Amherd
Party The Centre
Electoral vote
158 / 204
President before election

Alain Berset

 Elected President

Viola Amherd

The President of the Confederation is a member of the Federal Council elected every year, with no additional powers apart from chairing meetings of the Federal Council.

Viola Amherd (DM-VS) was elected in the first round of voting.[15]

Candidate Party Round 1
Viola Amherd DM 158
Albert Rösti SVP 21
Others 25
Valid votes 204
Absolute majority 103
Invalid votes 3
Blank votes 36
Votes cast 243

Vice President of the Federal Council edit

The Vice President of the Federal Council is a member of the Federal Council elected every year like the President, and the presumptive president for the next year.

Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP-SG) was elected in the first round of voting.[15]

Candidate Party Round 1
Karin Keller-Sutter FDP 138
Albert Rösti SVP 18
Élisabeth Baume-Schneider SP 16
Ignazio Cassis FDP 10
Beat Jans SP 10
Guy Parmelin SVP 4
Others 0
Valid votes 196
Absolute majority 99
Invalid votes 3
Blank votes 41
Votes cast 240

Departmental reshuffle edit

After the elections, the newly elected council meets to assign the departments of the Federal administration to each councillor. The departments are attributed by a council decision; in practice, each member announces their preference in order of seniority leaving the newly-elected members last, and the council adopts their preferences. In 2018, as Viola Amherd and Karin Keller-Sutter were elected on the same day, the council chose to let Keller-Sutter choose earlier despite having been elected slightly later.[16]

The resignation of Alain Berset left the Federal Department of Home Affairs open for the first time since 2011. In a surprise reshuffle Élisabeth Baume-Schneider took over the Department of Home Affairs after serving as head of the justice and police department for only one year. Newly-elected Beat Jans took over the Federal Justice and Police Department previously led by Baume-Schneider. The other departments remained with their previous heads.[17] The reshuffle was announced on 14 December 2023 and took effect on 1 January 2024.

Council Member Position before reshuffle Position after reshuffle
  Viola Amherd (DM-VS) Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport

Vice President of the Federal Council

Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport

President of the Swiss Confederation

  Guy Parmelin (SVP-VD) Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
  Ignazio Cassis (FDP-TI) Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
  Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP-SG) Head of the Federal Department of Finance Head of the Federal Department of Finance

Vice President of the Federal Council

  Albert Rösti (SVP-BE) Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
  Élisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP-JU) Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs
  Beat Jans (SP-BS) not in office Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police

References edit

  1. ^ Longchamp, Claude (2018-12-20). "L'élection du Conseil fédéral a-t-elle été vraiment normale?" [Has the Federal Council election really been normal?]. Swissinfo.ch (in French).
  2. ^ a b c "Alain Berset annonce qu'il va quitter le Conseil fédéral en décembre". rts.ch (in French). 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  3. ^ Talos, Christine (2018-12-03). "Élection au Conseil fédéral: le mode d'emploi" [Election to the Federal Council: the manual]. Lematin.ch (in French). Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  4. ^ Council, The Federal. "Federal Council election". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  5. ^ "Matthias Aebischer (BE) s'exprime sur sa candidature à la succession d'Alain Berset au Conseil fédéral". rts.ch (in French). 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  6. ^ "Evi Allemann est candidate à la succession d'Alain Berset au Conseil fédéral". rts.ch (in French). 2023-10-16. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  7. ^ "Le socialiste bâlois Beat Jans se lance dans la course au Conseil fédéral". rts.ch (in French). 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  8. ^ "Daniel Jositsch est candidat au Conseil fédéral: interview". rts.ch (in French). 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  9. ^ "Nordmann will Bundesrat werden". srf.ch (in German). 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  10. ^ "Jon Pult will SP-Bundesrat werden". srf.ch (in German). 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  11. ^ "Qui succédera à Alain Berset, président de la Confédération?". 20 minutes (in French). 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  12. ^ "La Bâloise Eva Herzog renonce à une nouvelle candidature au Conseil fédéral". rts.ch (in French). 2023-09-20. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  13. ^ "Suisse: Les Verts vont se lancer à l'assaut du Conseil fédéral". 20 minutes (in French). 2023-09-02. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  14. ^ "Amtliches Bulletin". www.parlament.ch. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  15. ^ a b "Amtliches Bulletin". www.parlament.ch. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  16. ^ "Élections fédérales: En attendant le grand chambardement au Conseil fédéral". Le Matin (in French). 2022-11-30. ISSN 1018-3736. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  17. ^ "Bundesrat hat Departementsverteilung vorgenommen". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
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