Thurnherr’s successor: Simonazzi and Rossi are ‘seriously considering’ the chancellery

class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>

Who will be the next so-called eighth federal councilor? On December 13, after the general elections of the Federal Council, the members of the National Council and the Council of States will determine who will inherit Thurnherr from 2024. In the race to succeed Chancellor Walter Thurnherr (60), the two Vice Chancellors Viktor Rossi (55) and André Simonazzi (55) have good cards. The two are “seriously considering” their candidacy, they announced at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.

“After fourteen years of working as vice chancellor at the Federal Chancellery, I am seriously considering my candidacy,” Federal Council spokesman Simonazzi said. He is currently responsible for government communications and coordinates the information activities of the departments.

SP and GLP members

Simonazzi was born in Monthey in Lower Valais in 1968, studied international relations in Geneva and then trained as a journalist. He later served as head of information for Caritas Switzerland before working for the federal government in 2004. Simonazzi is an SP member.

The other vice chancellor, Viktor Rossi, who was born in Bern in 1968, is also interested in the Federal Chancellery. “I am seriously considering a personal candidacy,” he writes. Rossi is a member of the GLP and became vice-chancellor in 2019. In his current role, he has overall responsibility for the completion of all tasks within the meetings of the Federal Council, in coordination with the Chancellor and the President of the Federal Council.

We are waiting for the elections

Rossi studied economics and law. After completing his studies, he initially taught as a business teacher before becoming director of the vocational school in Biel in 1999. In 2009, he took over the chairmanship of the Commercial Rectors’ Conference of the Canton of Bern before joining the Federal Chancellery in October 2010.

The two rectors do not yet want to commit themselves definitively to a candidacy. The focus is currently on the upcoming parliamentary elections, Rossi wrote. He will therefore only make a decision afterwards.

That’s what the parties say

About two months before election day, most parties remain vague on the issue of the Chancellor’s successor. The SVP wants to provide information at its party meeting no later than the end of November, she announced upon request. After Thurnherr’s announced resignation in mid-August, SVP faction leader Thomas Aeschi (44) filed a claim for the seat. The SVP has never appointed the chancellor, he explained.

The Green Liberals currently take the clearest position. They hope for Rossi’s candidacy. The vice chancellor is “a GLP party member valued by the Federal Council, the Federal Administration and Parliament,” the party wrote upon request. His personal and professional career and his commitment to the institutions during the last “crisis legislature” demonstrate that he has the skills, experience and personal format necessary for the Chancellery.

However, for the Greens, running the Federal Chancellery is not a priority, as the party announced. “The election of the new chancellor is not our focus in the coming weeks and months.” The Greens are entitled to a seat on the Federal Council and plan to stand for it in the general election in December 2023.

No claim has been made for the seat

The FDP also has no claim to the office of Chancellor, as the party has announced. An experienced personality is needed who works impartially and in the interests of Switzerland. The FDP will assess the choice of Thurnherr’s successor “in the context of the requirements profile and the overall renewal elections of the Federal Council.”

The Center Party’s statement goes in the same direction. For her, a candidate’s qualifications take precedence over party membership, she said when asked. After the elections, the center will investigate a possible candidacy from within its own ranks.

The SP cannot even look at the cards yet. It was said that it was too early to talk about the successor. For the SP, the elections are central. (lazy/SDA)

Source:Blick