The Green Party has nominated politician, Cécile Bühlmann, for the cabinet post being vacated by the outgoing defence minister, Adolf Ogi, who will retire at the end of this year. Her nomination came 11 days before parliament decides on Ogi's successor.

The 51-year-old politician from Lucerne has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1991. The president of the Green Party, Ruedi Baumann, told a news conference in Bern on Saturday that Bühlmann was to help "drive the Swiss People's Party" out of government.

He added that she was "a real alternative to the People's Party's four candidates" as she stood for an open and forward-looking Switzerland.

In contrast to the Greens, the People's Party had proven unfit to lead Switzerland into a rosy future with its "short sighted, xenophobic and isolationist" attitudes, according to Baumann.

Neither Baumann nor Bühlmann were prepared to comment on their chances of securing a cabinet post for the Green Party. However, they revealed that they were in touch with the Social Democratic Party over the issue.

Bühlmann also expects votes from small parties as well as from progressive Christian Democrat and Radical Democrat members of the House.

People's Party delegates from cantons Zurich and Graubünden nominated Rita Fuhrer and Christoffel Brändli as candidates to succeed their party colleague, Adolf Ogi.

The Bernese senate member, Samuel Schmid, and the canton Thurgau politician, Roland Eberle, have their sights on Ogi's job.

swissinfo with agencies

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