New General Secretaries
Baume-Schneider fetches Sommaruga familiar
The neo-Federal Councilors have elected their most important advisors. Both rely on party friends: Elisabeth Baume-Schneider brings Stefan Hostettler to her side, Albert Rösti relies on Yves Bichsel.
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Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (left) has taken over the Justice Department from Karin Keller-Sutter. Now she has a Sommaruga familiar at her side.
The new Federal Councilors Elisabeth Baume-Schneier (59) and Albert Rösti (55) are slowly coming into office. That means first of all that they look for their closest employees. Central is the post of Secretary General – this is the right hand of the magistrate. He or she makes sure that the department is running and is also available to advise the boss politically.
Nothing is official yet, but Blick knows: the two neo-Federal Councilors are relying on old party friends. Minister of Justice Elisabeth Baume-Schneider brings Stefan Hostettler (53) to her side. Hostettler is currently Deputy Secretary General in the Department of the Environment (UVEK). The resigned SP Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62), for whom he had already worked as Deputy Secretary General in the Department of Justice, brought him there.
Long Federal Parliament experience
So Hostettler returns to his former place of work – now simply in a higher position. It is certainly an advantage for Baume-Schneider to have a parliamentary insider by their side. The business economist and communications professional Hostettler has been active in federal politics since 2008, first as a research assistant for the SP parliamentary group, later as deputy general secretary of the SP Switzerland – and then in the federal administration.
The new Environment and Energy Minister Rösti is also counting on a party friend. Yves Bichsel (51) will be his general secretary. The Bernese is currently Secretary General of the Bernese Government Council Pierre-Alain Schnegg (60) and is considered the strong man there.
But Bichsel also knows the Federal Palace, albeit from different times. Bichsel started his political career in 2000 at the General Secretariat of the SVP before Christoph Blocher (82) brought him to the Justice Department and also made him Deputy General Secretary.
Choice a formality
After Blocher’s successor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (66) separated from Blocher’s intimate Bichsel, he briefly returned to SVP. However, he left the post of General Secretary after a few months. In 2009, Ueli Maurer (72) brought Bichsel to the Defense Department, where he stayed until he moved to the canton. So now his return to the Federal Palace follows.
The Federal Council still has to confirm the two personal details, but that is considered a formality. (pt/sf)