This resignation came as a surprise: after SP councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62) was initially suspended a week after her husband Lukas Hartmann (78) was ill, she decided to resign from her office on Wednesday at the end.
On December 7, the parliament in Bern must not only fill the vacant seat of the federal council of finance minister Ueli Maurer (71), but also that of Sommaruga.
How does that change the elections for the Federal Council?
That brings a little more excitement to the election of the Bundesrat – because the race is a lot more open in the SP than in the SVP, where Albert Rösti (55) is already considered elected, people ask in the corridors of the Federal Palace . Or has the last word not yet been spoken?
The SP leadership naturally wants a woman to follow Sommaruga – otherwise the left would be represented by two men in the Bundesrat. However, applications are welcome from all parts of the country – two Romans (and thus a Latin majority in the Federal Council) would be no problem. What’s behind it?
One thing is already clear: the Greens are not only refraining from attacking the SVP seat, but also that of the SP. Why?
The big speech of the Federal Council on Blick TV
Blick TV asks all these questions today, namely party exponents of SVP, SP and Greens.
Discuss in the studio:
- Green chairman Balthasar Glättli
- National Councilor Thomas Matter, member of the SVP . party leadership
- SP National Councilor Celine Widmer
Political scientist Claude Longchamp assesses the changed starting position and its possible consequences. (sf)