Cabinet favourite plays hard-to-get

The president of the centre-right Radical Party, Fulvio Pelli, no longer rules out being a candidate for a seat in the cabinet.

Pelli will accept a nomination by the national party’s parliamentary group at the end of the month, according to his local party chapter.

“We are confident that the parliamentary group will take the right decision,” a statement on Monday said.

However, the Ticino section added it did not want to put Pelli under undue pressure and stopped short of filing a formal candidature.

Pelli, a lawyer from the Italian-speaking part of the country, is widely seen as a favourite in the elections to succeed Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin.

So far five other contenders, four Radicals and one member of the centre-right Christian Democrats, have entered the race.

Parliament is due to elect the new cabinet member on September 16.

The Radicals and the centre-left Social Democratic Party currently hold two seats each in the government. Three other parties are also represented in the seven-member cabinet.

Urs Geiser, swissinfo.ch