All smiles: Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf on election day
AFP
Freshly re-elected Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf will serve as president of Switzerland in 2012.
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The post of president rotates annually among the seven cabinet members. The 55-year-old Conservative Democrat received 179 out of 239 votes in the parliamentary presidential election on Wednesday. Defence Minister Ueli Maurer will be her stand-in.
Widmer-Schlumpf is the first Conservative Democrat to serve as Swiss president. She joined the newly-formed party after she defied the People’s Party and accepted a place in the cabinet in 2007.
At that time, the People’s Party insisted that she give up her new seat, which she had taken from controversial Justice Minister Christoph Blocher.
Widmer-Schlumpf served as justice minister for three years, and has been the finance minister since autumn 2010. The Graubünden politician’s father was also a member of the cabinet and served as president.
Widmer-Schlumpf takes the place of the retiring president and foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey. She is the third woman in a row to serve as Swiss president.
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Second cabinet seat doubtful for People’s Party
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Four major parties have already declared their intention to back the re-election of Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf of the Conservative Democratic Party, meaning the People’s Party must look elsewhere. It could therefore be forced to challenge one of the two seats held by the Radical Party – which is also towards the right of the political…
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Until a few years ago, the outcome was easy to predict: all ministers would be re-elected and any that were stepping down could be expected to be replaced with a candidate handpicked by their party since approval by parliament was largely a formality. Between 1959 and 2003, the four largest parties divided the seven cabinet…
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Widmer-Schlumpf, also from the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, was widely tipped to take over the department after none of the other cabinet ministers expressed a desire to change places. Blocher failed to be re-elected by parliament last week for another four-year term. Traditionally, when there is a vacancy incumbents can switch ministries based on seniority.…
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On December 14, parliament elected the seven cabinet ministers for the next four years. The only new face was Alain Berset from the Social Democratic Party.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.