Former health official ‘next Swiss Red Cross President’
After months of heavy criticism and a leadership crisis at the Swiss Red Cross (SRC), former health ministry official Thomas Zeltner is set to be nominated as its new president, according to media reports.
The report has surprised public opinion, since over the weekend NZZ am Sonntag newspaper said former government minister Simonetta Sommaruga was being courted for the position.
But in a letter to its delegates, seen by Swiss public broadcaster SRF, the Red Cross Council has decided on the former director of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
Delegates are set to elect Zeltner in the next few weeks, as the SRC wants the presidency to be filled quickly. “The Red Cross Council wants to stabilise the situation at a strategic and operational level as quickly as possible and therefore intends to take the first steps towards this at the Red Cross meeting on June 24,” the letter states.
Just a week ago, the previous incumbent, Barbara Schmid-Federer, resigned for “health reasons” following heavy criticism of her leadership style. Schmid-Federer’s leadership style was taken apart by an independent report into the dismissal of SRC Director Markus Mader in December.
Zeltner currently heads the blood donation section of the SRC and he was chosen because he is well connected in national and international circles following his directorship of the FOPH from 1991 to 2009.
He also served as a member and vice-president of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO).
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