Defence Minister Ogi
Swiss Defence Minister Adolf Ogi was re-elected to the cabinet by a joint session of parliament on Wednesday.
Swiss Defence Minister Adolf Ogi was re-elected to the cabinet by a joint session of parliament on Wednesday.
He was confirmed with 229 votes in the 245-seat parliament.
The vote is part of a traditional re-election procedure, which follows parliamentary elections. Those were held in October and showed the right-wing Swiss People’s Party gaining the most seats in the House of Representatives.
Brief profile:
Adolf Ogi: Elected to cabinet in 1987. He is the current Defence Minister, but served as Transport and Energy Minister first. He is expected to retire after serving a second term as Swiss President, a largely ceremonial post, next year. He is a member of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party but on many key issues, such as Swiss integration in Europe, contradicts the party’s official line. He is clearly a centre-right man, but he succeeded in downsizing the Swiss armed forces in a way that no Social Democrat would have succeeded in doing. He is generally considered the “ordinary and working man’s” cabinet minister, know for his Ogi-speak and the brunt of jokes now even published in a book.
From staff and wire reports.
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