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SVP politician Katja Riem (26) was able to toast her election victory on Sunday evening with a glass of her own white wine. The young winemaker from the canton of Bern has done it: she has been elected to the National Council – and is now the youngest parliamentarian in Federal Bern.
She was the youngest in the Bernese Grand Council for the past two years. In 2021, she moved to the cantonal parliament. In yesterday’s elections, she was only more than 100 votes short and would have even overtaken former national councilor Nadja Umbricht-Pieren (43).
Winemaker and agronomist
In addition to politics, Riem works in her parents’ winery and at the Swiss farmers’ association. Association chairman Markus Ritter (56, center) will be strengthened in the National Council. After training as a winemaker, Riem trained as a farmer and then studied agronomy.
As the youngest member of the Kingdom Council, Riem will be able to give a short speech on the first day of the session of the new parliament in December. The Bernese farmer is the youngest politician to now sit in the National Council, but certainly not the youngest National Council member in history. For example, former SVP president Toni Brunner (49) was 21 when he was elected to the National Council in 1995.
The National Council is getting a little younger
On average, the National Council will become slightly younger after yesterday’s elections. While the average age was previously 51.7 years, it is now 49.5 years. But apart from Riem – completely different from four years ago – none of the newly elected are younger than 30. Riem from Bern replaces the Zurich liberal Andri Silberschmidt (29) as the youngest parliamentarian.
At the other end of the age scale is Charles Poncet (76) from Geneva. The lawyer from Geneva was also newly elected yesterday to the SVP delegation under the Federal Palace. From 1991 to 1995 he served on the National Council. Riem wasn’t even born yet. (lha)
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
