2009 Swiss Federal Council election
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A by-election 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 ...
was held in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
on 16 September 2009, after incumbent Federal Councillor
Pascal Couchepin Pascal Couchepin (born 5 April 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1998 to 2009. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD), he was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2003 and 2008 ...
( Free Democratic Party, FDP/PLR) announced his intention to retire on 31 October 2009. Some saw the election as an important decision regarding whom the "fourth seat" in the Federal Council belonged to (the FDP or the CVP), and as an indirect political decision regarding whether the SP or the SVP would have more influence in the future.
Didier Burkhalter Didier Eric Burkhalter (born 17 April 1960) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2017. A member of FDP.The Liberals, he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2014. Burkhalter was elected t ...
(FDP/PLR) was elected to succeed Couchepin in the fourth ballot.


Candidates and party positions

The election became a contest between the center-right Free Democrats and the centrist
Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
, who both claimed to be entitled to the free Council seat. The right-wing
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 ...
and the left-wing
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
's support, however, will decide the outcome.


Free Democratic Party

The FDP entered the election trying to retain Pascal Couchepin's seat. Representative
Didier Burkhalter Didier Eric Burkhalter (born 17 April 1960) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2017. A member of FDP.The Liberals, he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2014. Burkhalter was elected t ...
(
Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...
) announced his candidacy on 8 July 2009, followed by the
Genevan , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
representatives Christian Lüscher on 9 July and
Martine Brunschwig Graf Martine Brunschwig Graf (born 16 March 1950 in Fribourg) is a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss National Council for the Canton of Geneva; since 2003. Her political party is FDP.The Liberals. Brunschwig Graf was a member of the parliame ...
on 12 July, as well as Pascal Broulis (
Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...
) on 6 August. Party president
Fulvio Pelli Fulvio Pelli (born 26 January 1951) is a Swiss politician. He was the last president of the Free Democratic Party prior to its merger with the Liberal Party of Switzerland. After the merger of the two parties, he served as the first president o ...
, while not officially putting himself forward, stated that he would stand in the election if nominated by his party. The FDP decided on 29 August to nominate two candidates, Burkhalter and Lüscher. Lüscher was seen as a right-wing candidate and Burkhalter as a centrist; some speculated that the FDP had nominated Lüscher to appease the SVP, while wanting Burkhalter to be elected. This strategy was considered to be risky, however, as a final vote between the FDP's Lüscher and the CVP's Schwaller would likely see Schwaller's election. The FDP claimed that Lüscher was not at all meant as an appeasement, and that he was as legitimate a candidate as Burkhalter. Shortly before the election,
Dick Marty Dick Marty (born 7 January 1945) is a Swiss politician (FDP.The Liberals) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a former member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Counc ...
(FDP
Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
) announced without the support of his party that he would accept an election; it was seen as possible that some SP and Green representatives might support him.


Christian Democratic Party

The Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) also stated it was entitled to a second seat. Dominique de Buman from the CVP
Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () o ...
announced his candidacy on 7 August 2009. Urs Schwaller (CVP Fribourg) will also stand. Furthermore, Luigi Pedrazzini (CVP Ticino) was nominated on 31 August 2009. On 8 September 2009, the CVP unanimously nominated Schwaller.


Swiss People's Party

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) maintained that it was entitled to a second seat on the Federal Council, but that it had not yet decided when to try and obtain it. The SVP announced that it would only support the FDP's candidate if the FDP agreed to a fixed timetable for the election of a second SVP councilor. The SVP was strongly considering proposing their own candidate, with Jean-François Rime (SVP Fribourg) the only likely candidate; if they do not propose their own candidate, they stated they would only vote for FDP candidates, as they do not recognize the CVP's claim to a second seat.


Social Democratic Party

SP representatives stated that they would consider the candidates of CVP and FDP on their own merits, as they don't see either of the two parties having a natural claim to the seat; supporting the Greens was seen as unlikely, but possible. The FDP's Pelli was the only candidate the SP ruled out supporting. Analysts stated the SP had to take into account that it would likely shortly have to replace
Moritz Leuenberger Moritz Leuenberger (born 21 September 1946) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1995 to 2010. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 20 ...
's seat, and that it couldn't risk alienating the FDP too strongly. The SVP almost directly threatened it might vote against the SP's second candidate and for a Green candidate in the next complete renewal of the Federal Council in 2011. Shortly before the election, the SP declared that it was not decided that its members would prefer Schwaller; while he was closer to the SP on the issues, some members of the SP were reluctant to vote for a non-FDP candidate on institutional grounds. The SP also stated it would openly announce its voting behaviour (likely in an attempt to show that some SVP members – likely from constituencies strongly influenced by the farming community – would vote for Schwaller, who had tried to raise his profile as a critic of agricultural free trade with the EU).


Greens

The Greens decided on 28 August not to propose a candidate for the seat, as they had done in the two previous elections when SVP seats were contested, because they considered the time not to be right.


Conservative Democrats

The small Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) stated that if any agreement to replace
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (born 16 March 1956) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2008 to 2015. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) until 2008, she has since then been a member of the ...
with a SVP representative came to pass, the party would vote for the CVP's candidate. Furthermore, the BDP proposed giving the BDP's votes to the CVP candidate in exchange for the CVP's support for Widmer-Schlumpf's reelection in 2011.


Procedure

Federal Council elections proceed in as many ballots as are required for a candidate to receive an absolute majority of valid votes. Each of the 246 members of the Federal Assembly, members of the National Council and the Council of States alike, hold one vote. Article 132, par. 3 and 4 of the Parliament Act provides that:


Results

After the first ballot, Dick Marty asked his colleagues, in a personal statement, to support his party's official candidates. After the third ballot, Christian Lüscher asked his colleagues to support Didier Burkhalter. Didier Burkhalter accepted his election to Federal Councillor.


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland Federal Council election 2009 Federal Council election