Philipp Matthias Bregy named new president of Centre Party

Valais National Councillor Bregy is the new President of Mitte Schweiz Keystone-SDA

Valais parliamentarian Philipp Matthias Bregy is the new president of the Swiss Centre Party. Delegates elected him as the successor to Gerhard Pfister on Saturday in Bern without discussion.

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Bregy, 46, was the only candidate for the highest party office. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2019 and leader of the Centre Party in the federal parliament since mid-2021. Bregy is a lawyer by profession and the father of two children.

In his inaugural speech, Bregy said he wanted to continue on the path set by Pfister and develop the Centre Party into a constructive and even stronger centrist party. He envisioned his presidency to be “open, direct and prepared to hold dialogue”.

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In his farewell speech, Pfister said that a strong political centre was more important than ever. Polarisation was also increasing in Switzerland, he said. “We are countering this with a policy of dialogue and respect.” His said party builds bridges but also takes clear positions and leads the way with solutions from the political centre.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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