Leuenberger, who initially announced his resignation for the end of the year, has decided to bring forward the date for political reasons, according to a statement by his ministry on Monday.
The exact date will be announced after a cabinet meeting next week.
There have been calls by political parties and the media for Leuenberger to step down earlier than originally planned after Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz announced his resignation on Friday. Merz will go in October.
Leuenberger’s decision paves the way for cabinet elections by parliament on September 22.
His centre-left Social Democratic Party has praised Leuenberger for showing a sense of responsibility.
The seven-member cabinet is made up of representatives of five parties. The Social Democrats and Merz’s party, the centre-right Radicals, have two seats each and are expected to hold on to them.
The rightwing Swiss People’s Party and the Greens say they will also mount a challenge.
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Political system to survive cabinet shake-up
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But experts say the stability of the Swiss government system with its seven-member multiparty cabinet is not under threat. “Resignations before the end of the term are part of Swiss politics,“ says Michael Hermann, political scientist at Zurich University. He adds that every resignation of a minister has its own history. “Compared with changes in…
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Merz, who stands down in October, has held the post since his election nearly seven years ago and served as Swiss president in 2009. “I used my summer break to take a difficult decision,” he told a news conference on Friday. “I consider the timing to be right for my resignation,” he added. Merz said…
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The member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party from Zurich joined the government in 1995 and was responsible for transport, energy, environment and communication. Leuenberger said he had chosen to announce his resignation nearly six months before to give parliament enough time to prepare for the election of a new Swiss president. The minister was…
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When Moritz Leuenberger leaves cabinet at the end of 2010, the transport minister will have spent over 15 years in government, well beyond the average ten years most cabinet ministers last. But for Leuenberger, politics has been his passion for more than four decades (All pictures: Keystone, RDB)
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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.