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With Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (58), for the first time in a long time, Parliament does not simply choose the favorite.
Christian DorerEditor-in-Chief Blick Group
What a law coup! For the first time in a long time, Parliament does not simply choose the favourite. But Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (58), the Jura SP state councilor and outsider in this Federal Council election.
The clear favorite was the Basel Councilor of States Eva Herzog (60) because she is better known and is considered to be more experienced and dossier solid. There are many indications that the SP Baume-Schneider only put on the ticket so that Herzog would be elected with certainty.
She messed with that. On the one hand, for reasons of power politics, several parties are more interested in a conciliatory French SP Federal Councilor than in a tough Swiss-German.
On the other hand, the human counts more than you think. In the end, the parliamentarians decide for themselves who to write on their ballot paper. And that’s definitely not someone you’ve ever had a bad experience with.
Herzog is not only considered cool and distant, many parliamentarians also say: “Before she was a candidate, she never greeted me!” And then along came this fresh, happy, easy-going Jurassic girl who took hearts by storm…
Now Basel is furious because, after almost 50 years of waiting for its own Federal Council, it hasn’t worked out again. The cities are irritated because nobody in the Federal Council is of urban origin. Some German-speaking Swiss resent the fact that Latin-speaking Switzerland now has the majority.
It is great that the youngest of all cantons is represented in the Federal Council for the first time in the 45th year of its existence!
And when is a Federal Council balanced? German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland, Ticino, male, female, urban, rural, donor canton, recipient canton, you could add studied/not studied, hetero/homo/non-binary, rich/poor, secondo/original Swiss… The list is endless, there is no such thing as the perfect mix . Nor is it crucial: our democracy works just as well if Latin Switzerland and rural Switzerland are over-represented for a period of time.
Much more important: On Wednesday, Albert Rösti (55) and Elisabeth Baume-Schneider were elected to the Federal Council, two members who embody the opposite of Ueli Maurer’s “Kei Luscht”: They both radiate incredible joy in the office – joy coupled with respect for the task. And people believe that they want the best for Switzerland and not primarily for themselves or their party.
Those are very good prerequisites. How someone proves themselves in the Federal Council only shows in practice anyway.