She is considered the favorite to succeed SP federal councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62): councilor Eva Herzog van Bazel (60). She has a lot of political experience, has been in the cantonal government for 14 years and is one of the most trusted financial politicians in the country. And especially on financial issues, she often politicizes on the right-wing of her party. It is also well received by common people.
So far, Herzog has declined to comment on her Federal Council’s ambitions. But now her candidacy is becoming clear: on Thursday the woman from Basel wants to inform the media in Bern. Only those who have something important to say do so. Here the comrades agree.
Avoid losing again
“She definitely wants to be on the Federal Council,” says an old companion. “But what she absolutely does not want is that she does not get the candidate ticket within the party.” She absolutely wants to avoid such a defeat, which is why she has had many discussions and analyzed her starting position in recent days.
Herzog has already unsuccessfully applied for a seat in the state government. In 2010, however, the current government councilor Jacqueline Fehr (59) and Sommaruga van Zurich were nominated for the SP’s official candidate card. But now Herzog’s chances are high that she can inherit the retiring magistrate. Another comrade says to Blick, “I’d be surprised if she didn’t run.”
Women are still waiting
In fact, for Herzog the place on the SP two-ticket is a greater barrier than the election for the Bundesrat. Because once she is on the map, “she has good chances of success in the House of Representatives”, according to several members of parliament.
So far, no SP politician has announced that he wants to run for office. However, the Bern SP country councilor Flavia Wasserfallen (43) and the Bern government councilor and former national councilor Evi Allemann (44) want to announce this week whether they will throw in their hats.
Jura State Councilor and former State Councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (58) and Thurgau National Councilor Edith Graf-Litscher (58) are still considering a possible candidacy.
So far, only the Zurich Council of States Daniel Jositsch (57) has announced that it wants to participate. His bad luck: the party leadership relies on a purely female ticket. And in the group, the attempts to undo this decision would be hopeless.