The Executive Council (german: Regierungsrat, french: Conseil-éxecutif) is the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

of the

Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Co ...

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. This seven-member collegial body is elected by the people for a period of four years. The cantonal constitution reserves one seat in the Executive Council for a French-speaking citizen from the

Bernese Jura Bernese Jura (french: Jura bernois, ) is the name for the French-speaking area of the Swiss canton of Bern, and from 2010 one of ten administrative divisions of the canton. Comprising the three French-speaking districts in the northern part of the ...

. The presidency, by convention, rotates annually and the position is largely that of a ''

primus inter pares ''Primus inter pares'' is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their sen ...

''.

Current Composition

As of 2010, the Executive Council was composed as follows: * President of the Council Philippe Perrenoud,

SPS SPS may refer to: Law and government * Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the WTO * NATO Science for Peace and Security * Single Payment Scheme, an EU agricultural subsidy * The Standard Procurement System, fo ...

: Health and Social Services Department * Vice President of the Council Bernhard Pulver, GFL: Education Department * Executive Councillor Andreas Rickenbacher,

: Economic Department * Executive Councillor Hans-Jörg Käser, FDP: Police and Military Department * Executive Councillor Christoph Neuhaus, SVP: Department of Justice, Municipalities and Churches * Executive Councillor Beatrice Simon, BDP: Finance Department * Executive Councillor

Barbara Egger-Jenzer Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously ...

: Department of Construction, Transport and Energy * State Chancellor Kurt Nuspliger,

: State Chancellory (''chief of staff with no vote in the Council'')

2006 Executive Council elections

The 2006 Executive Council elections occurred on April 9. While Councillors Egger, Gasche and Luginbühl ran for re-election (which they achieved easily), Councillors Andres, Annoni, Bhend and Zölch resigned, leaving the field unusually wide open. The SVP, long the dominant party in Bern, unexpectedly made an attempt to seize control of the Council by fielding four candidates instead of the usual three. The parties left of center criticised this move as contrary to the tradition of

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government. Despite the

majority voting Majority rule is a principle that means the decision-making power belongs to the group that has the most members. In politics, majority rule requires the deciding vote to have majority, that is, more than half the votes. It is the binary deci ...

procedure and its alliance with the FDP, the SVP failed to attain its goal, losing one seat to the Social Democrats instead. As the FDP also lost one seat to the Greens, the governmental majority changed to the Left. Together with the FDP, the parties right of center (usually referred to in Bern as ''bürgerlich'', i.e.,

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

) had slated six candidates: * Urs Gasche, SVP (re-elected) * Werner Luginbühl, SVP (re-elected) * Hans-Jürg Käser, FDP (elected) *

Monique Jametti Greiner Monique is a female given name. It is the French form of the name Monica. The name has enjoyed some popularity in the United States since about 1955, and is less common in other English-speaking countries except for Canada although mostly used ...

, SVP (not elected) *

Annelise Vaucher Anneliese (, ) is a female given name of either German, Dutch or Nordic origin. It is a compound form of "Anna" and "Liese", a short form of " Elisabeth". It may refer to: * Anneliese Bauer, East German slalom canoer who competed in the late 195 ...

, SVP (for the

seat, not elected) *

Eva Desarzens Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

, FDP (not elected) The parties left of center, in turn, had agreed on a slate of four candidates: * Barbara Egger-Jenzer, SP (re-elected) * Philippe Perrenoud, SP (for the Bernese Jura seat, elected) * Andreas Rickenbacher, SP (elected) * Bernhard Pulver, GFL (elected) Th
other candidates
fielded by minor parties or groups (different Christian parties, nationalists, French-speaking quasi-separatists, joke parties) were never considered to have a substantial chance of winning a Council seat. ''Source:'
Official 2006 elections website

2010 Executive Council elections

The 2010 election on March 28 was the first without pre-printed block lists. Given this and the rather surprising left-wing win in 2006, it was widely questioned whether the Social Democrats and the Greens could hold their majority. Urs Gasche, who had switched to the newly founded Conservative Democratic Party, did not run for re-election. His party defended their seat with Beatrice Simon. The SVP sought to regain two seats with re-elected Christoph Neuhaus and first-time candidate Albert Rösti, who scored eighth and was therefore not elected. For the FDP, Hans-Jürg Käser successfully ran for re-election, while Sylvain Astier, who contested the Jura seat, lost to Philippe Perrenoud. On the left, Barbara Egger-Jenzer, Andreas Rickenbacher, Philippe Perrenoud (all Social Democrats) and Bernhard Pulver (Greens) were re-elected, retaining the left-wing's control over the executive. Except for Philippe Perrenoud, who defended the Jura seat, they scored the best results. Several candidates of minor parties, including Jurassian separatist

Maxime Zuber Maxime is a French given name that may refer to: As a name *Maxime Bernier (born 1963), former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs *Maxime Bôcher, American mathematician * Maxime Boyer, Canadian professional wrestler * Maxime Du Camp, French writ ...

(

Parti Socialiste Autonome Parti may refer to: *Parti (surname), a Hungarian surname, and a list of people with the name * ''Parti'' (architecture), the organizing concepts behind an architect's design * *, a lake in Russia See also *Partie (disambiguation) *Party (disambi ...

) and

Marc Jost Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

( EVP) were unsuccessful.

References

External links

All links are in German and French, unless otherwise noted.
Official website of the Executive Council of Bern
* Websites for th
2002
an
2006
Executive Council elections {{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland Canton of Bern