2019 Swiss Federal Council election

An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 11 December 2019, following the federal election on 20 October 2019, for the 2020–2024 term.[1]

2019 Swiss Federal Council election

← 2015 (regular)
2018 (by-)
11 December 2019 2022 (by-)
2023 (regular) →

All 7 Federal Councillors
  First party Second party
 
Party Swiss People's Social Democrats
Elected Ueli Maurer
213 votes
Alain Berset
214 votes
Guy Parmelin
191 votes
Simonetta Sommaruga
192 votes

  Third party Fourth party
 
Party FDP.The Liberals Christian Democrats
Elected Karin Keller-Sutter
169 votes
Viola Amherd
218 votes
Ignazio Cassis
145 votes

All Federal Councillors were reelected to their seats by the Federal Assembly in the first round of voting, either for another full four-year term (Ueli Maurer, Simonetta Sommaruga, Alain Berset, Guy Parmelin) or a first full four-year term (Ignazio Cassis, Viola Amherd, Karin Keller-Sutter).[2][3] No portfolio changes were made after the election.

Background

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The Federal Council is the federal executive of Switzerland. It is composed of 7 members, elected for a 4-year term by both houses of the Swiss parliament sitting together as the Federal Assembly after each federal election.[4] Decisions are taken collegially, only deferring to a vote when no consensus can be reached; decisions once taken are then defended by the entire council acting as a single decision-maker.

Any Swiss eligible to the National Council is eligible to the Federal Council,[5] but historically most councillors elected are members of the legislature. Elections are held using secret ballot and candidate need an overall majority of valid votes to be elected. Each seat is elected independently and sequentially, in order of seniority (the seat of the longest-serving federal councillor is first up).[6]

The parliament cannot remove from office any councillor nor vote a non-confidence motion against it. Federal councillors are usually re-elected until they resign, sometimes during their term (calling for a by-election); only four have been unseated in the Council's history.

Magic formula

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The Magic formula is an unwritten agreement between the parties to share the seats on the Federal Council as a national unity coalition. The three largest parties (SVP, SP, and FDP) receive 2 seats each, and the fourth largest party (CVP) receives the last seat (2–2–2–1). It was used since 1959, with the exception of a period between 2007 and 2015 after the SVP/UDC expelled its two federal councillors.

The formula was put in question after the surge in votes of the greens and green-liberals in the federal election a month earlier; the traditional 4 parties only represented 68.9% of the National Council which was the lowest in history. Calls were made either to replace the formula with a five-party coalition (2–2–1–1–1) or expand its size to nine seats, the latter was rejected by referendum last time in 1942 but it is also seen as a way to split the two largest federal departments.[7]

Federal Assembly

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48
35
16
44
41
62
Parliamentary group Parties NR/CN SR/CdÉ Total %
Group of the Swiss People's Party SVP/UDC, Lega, EDU/UDF, Ind.[a] 55 7 62 25.2%
Social-democratic group SP/PS 39 9 48 19.5%
Center Group CVP-EVP-BDP CVP/PDC, EVP/PEV, BDP/PBD 31 13 44 17.9%
FDP-Liberal group FDP/PLR 29 12 41 16.7%
Green group GPS/PÉS, PST, SolS 30 5 35 14.2%
Green-liberal group GLP/PVL 16 0 16 6.5%
  1. ^ One SVP-caucusing independent in the Council of States.

Incumbents

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Incumbents, in descending order of seniority, including political party affiliation and department at the time of the election:

All groups supported the re-election of all federal councillors, with the exception of the greens and social-democrats who supported Green Party leader Regula Rytz to take Ignazio Cassis' seat.

Results

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The official photograph of the Swiss Federal Council for 2020. From left to right: Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr, Viola Amherd, Guy Parmelin (Vice President for 2020), Alain Berset, Simonetta Sommaruga (President for 2020), Ignazio Cassis, Ueli Maurer and Karin Keller-Sutter.

Seat held by Ueli Maurer

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Ueli Maurer (SVP-ZH) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Ueli Maurer SVP 213
Others 8
Valid votes 221
Absolute majority 111
Invalid votes 0
Blank votes 23
Votes cast 244

Seat held by Simonetta Sommaruga

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Simonetta Sommaruga (SP-BE) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Simonetta Sommaruga SP 192
Regula Rytz GPS 13
Others 13
Valid votes 218
Absolute majority 110
Invalid votes 1
Blank votes 25
Votes cast 244

Seat held by Alain Berset

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Alain Berset (PS-FR) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Alain Berset SP 214
Others 16
Valid votes 230
Absolute majority 116
Invalid votes 0
Blank votes 14
Votes cast 244

Seat held by Guy Parmelin

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Guy Parmelin (SVP-VD) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Guy Parmelin SVP 191
Others 13
Valid votes 204
Absolute majority 103
Invalid votes 1
Blank votes 39
Votes cast 244

Seat held by Ignazio Cassis

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Ignazio Cassis (FDP-TI) was reelected in the first round of voting. The Greens and Socialists considered FDP.The Liberals to no longer deserve a seat in the Federal Council and fielded Green Party leader Regula Rytz to challenge his seat. Her candidacy mobilized the green and social-democratic groups almost unanimously, but failed to appeal to the centrist parties and Ignazio Cassis was re-elected without being challenged to a runoff.[8]

Candidate Party Round 1
Ignazio Cassis FDP 145
Regula Rytz GPS 82
Others 11
Valid votes 238
Absolute majority 120
Invalid votes 0
Blank votes 6
Votes cast 244

Seat held by Viola Amherd

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Viola Amherd (CVP-VS) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Viola Amherd CVP 218
Others 14
Valid votes 232
Absolute majority 117
Invalid votes 0
Blank votes 11
Votes cast 243

Seat held by Karin Keller-Sutter

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Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP-SG) was reelected in the first round of voting.

Candidate Party Round 1
Karin Keller-Sutter FDP 169
Marcel Dobler FDP 21
Others 16
Valid votes 206
Absolute majority 104
Invalid votes 1
Blank votes 37
Votes cast 244

Additional votes

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Chancellor of the Confederation

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Chancellor Walter Thurnherr

The Chancellor of the Confederation is a technocratic position and not a voting member of the Federal Council, but they are elected after the seven ministers using the same rules. Walter Thurnherr (CVP-AG) was reelected chancellor in the first round of voting, with a majority higher than the ministers.[9]

Candidate Party Round 1
Walter Thurnherr CVP 219
Others 5
Valid votes 224
Absolute majority 113
Invalid votes 3
Blank votes 14
Votes cast 241

President of the Confederation

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2019 Swiss presidential election
 
← 2018 11 December 2019 2020 →
   
Candidate Simonetta Sommaruga
Party Social Democrats
Electoral vote
186 / 200

President before election

Ueli Maurer

Elected President

Simonetta Sommaruga

The President of the Confederation is a member of the Federal Council elected every year, with no additional powers apart from chairing meetings of the Federal Council. Simonetta Sommaruga (SP-BE) was supported by all groups, as she had served the longest on the Federal Council since her last presidency in 2015 and was vice-president the previous year.[10]

Candidate Party Round 1
Simonetta Sommaruga SP 186
Others 14
Valid votes 200
Absolute majority 101
Invalid votes 6
Blank votes 37
Votes cast 243

Vice President of the Federal Council

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The Vice President of the Federal Council is a member of the Federal Council elected every year like the President, and the presumptive president for the next year. Guy Parmelin (SVP-VD) was supported by all groups, as he had served the longest on the Federal Council since 2016 without being president.[10]

Candidate Party Round 1
Guy Parmelin SVP 168
Others 15
Valid votes 183
Absolute majority 92
Invalid votes 3
Blank votes 52
Votes cast 238

References

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  1. ^ "Renouvellement intégral du Conseil fédéral du 11 décembre 2019". Parlament.ch. 2019-12-11. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  2. ^ "Election du Conseil fédéral, le 11 décembre 2019", Le Temps (in French), 11 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Le Conseil fédéral élu est le moins représentatif depuis 1959", RTS (in French), 11 December 2019.
  4. ^ Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation / Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV) / Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.) / Costituzione federale della Confederazione Svizzera of 2018-09-23, SR/RS 101 (E·D·F·I)
  5. ^ BV/Csv. art. 143, art. 175
  6. ^ Federal Act on the Federal Assembly / Bundesgesetz über die Bundesversammlung (ParlG) / Loi sur L'Assemblée fédérale (LParl) / Legge federale sull'Assemblea federale of 2019-12-02, SR/RS 171.10 (E·D·F·I)
  7. ^ Wuthrich, Bernard. "Pour le Conseil fédéral, une formule qui perd de sa magie". Le Temps. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  8. ^ Le Temps (2019-12-11). "Election du Conseil fédéral, le 11 décembre 2019". letemps.ch. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  9. ^ "Wahl des Bundeskanzlers für die neue Amtsdauer — Election du chancelier de la Confédération pour la nouvelle législature". parlament.ch. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  10. ^ a b "Wahl der Bundespräsidentin für 2020 — Election de la présidente de la Confédération pour 2020". Parlament.ch. Retrieved 2022-09-04.