Hardly anyone is more enthusiastic about the Federal Council elections on December 7 than two SP men: Daniel Jositsch (57) and Pierre-Yves Maillard (54). On this day, an SVP Federal Councilor is first elected, probably his name is Albert Rösti (55).
But later that day, the careers of the two SP alpha men will also be decided. Because if the successor of Simonetta Sommaruga (62) is certain, one of the two must bury his ambitions of the Federal Council.
Two men with hope
He does not hide that Jositsch wants to become a member of the Federal Council – the Zurich Council of States is even toying with the idea of being elected, even if he is not an official candidate. And union boss Maillard has already been a candidate once. But he lost to Alain Berset (50) in 2011. Inheriting this in any case is Maillard’s main goal.
But with the federal SP councilors it is just like with the Highlander: there can only be one.
The part of the country decides
If the Federal Assembly elects a woman from German-speaking Switzerland to succeed Sommaruga, Jositsch will have to look for a new target. Berset’s successor must then necessarily come from Western Switzerland. That’s how the Social Democrats have always done it.
Jositsch will therefore hope that a French woman will inherit Sommaruga. Apparently, the criminal law professor is already crying for candidates from Romandie. For Maillard it is exactly the other way around: he must now hope for a German-Swiss woman so that his chances of succeeding Berset remain intact.
A woman is needed now
Both Jositsch and Maillard are currently denied access to the Federal Council room. The SP leadership has made it more than clear that only a women’s ticket is possible. It’s hard to imagine the parliamentary faction disagreeing: four years after the great women’s strike, the Equality Party cannot afford to campaign with two male federal councilors.
And if Jositsch were to be hoisted into the Bundesrat like a wild man, he would be less than half a Bundesrat for the left. And as a magistrate by the grace of the SVP, he would have had a very hard time as a comrade in the state government.
New issues for Maillard
That’s how a woman should be. At the moment everything points to this coming from German-speaking Switzerland. Councilor Eva Herzog (60) and Councilor Flavia Wasserfallen (43) are favorites. Voices can already be heard from Romandy saying they won’t get anything this time.
But even then, Maillard is not simply Berset’s successor. On the other side of the Röstigraben, another name for this business is already circulating. That of faction leader Roger Nordmann (49). The one who passionately campaigns for a pure choice of women.