Ruth Metzler (born Arnold, 23 May 1964) is a Swiss politician who served as a

Member of the Swiss Federal Council Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), she headed the

Federal Department of Justice and Police The Federal Department of Justice and Police (german: Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartement, french: Département fédéral de justice et police, it, Dipartimento federale di giustizia e polizia, rm, ) is one of the seven departme ...

Biography

Political career

Educated at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius ...

, Metzler served as the cantonal executive in charge of finance in

Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Innerrhoden rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadens; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Interno) is one of the 26 cantons ...

from 1996 to 1999. She was elected to the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

on 11 March 1999, as a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party. Metzler took office at the

the following 1 May, succeeding

Arnold Koller Arnold Koller (born 29 August 1933) is a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1986–1999). He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 10 December 1986 as a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party of ...

; she won 14 referendums during her time in office. On 1 January 2003, she assumed the vice presidency of the Swiss Confederation. On 10 December 2003, she became the third Federal Councillor not to be reelected in the history of the Swiss Federal State. In the 2003 Federal Assembly election, her party lost many voters and the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (german: Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP; rm, Partida populara Svizra, PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (french: Union démocratique du centre, UDC; it, Unione Democratica di Centro, UDC), is a nati ...

(SVP/UDC) became the largest party of Switzerland. The Swiss People's Party then requested another seat in the Federal Council. In the elections for the Federal Council on 10 December, the Federal Assembly did not reelect Metzler and elected

Christoph Blocher Christoph Wolfram Blocher (; born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss industrialist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2004 to 2007. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he headed the Federal Department of ...

instead, by 121 votes to 116 on the third round of voting. She challenged her CVP colleague

Joseph Deiss Joseph Deiss (born 18 January 1946) is a Swiss economist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1999 to 2006. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), he first headed the Federal Departmen ...

for his seat, but lost by 138 to 96. Metzler kept her seat until the end of the year and Christoph Blocher succeeded her on 1 January 2004.

After politics

She published the memories of those years under the title "Grissini & Alpenbitter", 2004, . She taught between February and July 2004 at the

University of St. Gallen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

a class called "Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten in der Politik" which can be translated as "scope for design in politics". Since April 2005 she has been working for the Swiss pharmaceutical company

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

References

External links

www.ruthmetzler.ch
– personal website launched for the sale of her book * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Metzler, Ruth 1964 births People from Sursee District Living people Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland politicians University of Fribourg alumni Swiss Roman Catholics Swiss women lawyers Women members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) 20th-century women rulers 20th-century Swiss women politicians 20th-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss women politicians 21st-century Swiss politicians 20th-century Swiss lawyers 21st-century Swiss lawyers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers