Samuel Schmid made his last public appearance as defence minister on Saturday, when he had cocktails with 150 supporters at an informal gathering near Basel.
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Schmid, who announced his resignation in November amid mounting critical pressure, will hand over the post to incoming minister Ueli Maurer of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party officially at midnight on December 31.
Schmid has served as defence minister for eight years. Critics began to call for him to step down after Roland Nef, his appointee as head of the armed forces, was implicated in a case of sexual harassment.
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Defence Minister Schmid announces resignation
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The announcement had long been expected and followed months of mounting pressure on him to go. “I am resigning for health and family reasons, and out of love of my country and the army,” an emotional Schmid told a media conference. The 61-year-old cabinet minister had just returned to work this week after a successful…
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It is the latest step in an ongoing controversy over the appointment of Nef as chief commander a year ago and the role of Defence Minister Samuel Schmid. “I asked the chief commander to put an end to the assumptions, rumours and allegations. He has until August 20 to confirm the confidence put in him,”…
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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.