Centre Party president rules out run for Swiss government post
The timing of Pfister's and Amherd's resignations had fuelled speculation that Pfister was planning to stand for election to the government.
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Centre Party president rules out run for Swiss government post
Outgoing Centre Party president Gerhard Pfister will not join the race to replace defence minister Viola Amherd in the Swiss government. In an interview with the Tagesanzeiger newspaper, he said a cabinet role would not suit him.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Mitte-Präsident Gerhard Pfister will nicht Bundesrat werden
Original
Pfister told the newspaper that naturally, he had asked himself whether he could do it. “And with all modesty: I would trust myself to do the job,” he said. But he had also asked himself whether the position of minister suited him. And he came to the conclusion that no, it would not.
Anyone who knows him well knows that he would not be a happy cabinet minister, he said: he loves discourse, and enjoys debating and arguing. “To do that, I need a certain amount of personal freedom,” said Pfister. He has that as party president, but would “certainly not have it anymore” if he were part of the seven-member Federal Council.
More
More
Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd announces resignation
This content was published on
Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd has announced that she will step down at the end of March.
The Centre-Party minister Amherd announced her resignation from the government last Wednesday. A week and a half earlier, Pfister had announced that he would step down as party president in the summer. This double resignation made people a little nervous, said Pfister. Suddenly there were many career opportunities. As party president, however, he still wants to do his best to contribute to a “fair, transparent and peaceful race [to replace Amherd]”.
But time is pressing. Amherd’s successor is set to be elected by both chambers of parliament on March 12. According to Pfister, a decision on the ticket will probably be made at the parliamentary group meeting on February 21. At the delegates’ meeting on February 22 in Visp, the nominated candidates will be able to present themselves to members of the grassroots.
Adapted from German with DeepL/gw
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Swiss army identifies gaps in civil aircraft collision warning system
This content was published on
The Cyber-Defence Campus of the Swiss defence ministry has found two vulnerabilities in the collision warning system for civil aviation.
Swiss parents rely on savings accounts for their children instead of investment funds
This content was published on
According to the survey, over 60% of parents start saving in the first year of life, and around 10% even before the child is born.
Half the Swiss army’s M113 armoured vehicles rehabilitated
This content was published on
Half of the Swiss army's 248 M113 grenadier armoured vehicles are back on the road after being temporarily decommisioned.
Voters in Zurich reject pay rise for local politicians
This content was published on
Local parliamentarians in Zurich will not receive a pay hike after 53.2% of voters in the city came out against the plan on Sunday.
Minimum wage narrowly rejected in canton Basel Country
This content was published on
The Unia trade union initiative had called for a minimum wage of CHF22 ($24.20) per hour for all employees working in the canton.
Bernese voters accept counter-proposal to solar initiative
This content was published on
In the Swiss canton of Bern, there will still be no solar obligation for roof renovations in the future, but there will be one for large car parks.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
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.