Wasserfallen also refuses

The cat is out of the bag! The Berner SP National Councilor Flavia Wasserfallen (43) does not want to succeed Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62). The series of rejections from the ranks of the Social Democrats is getting longer.

The move towards a candidacy for the Federal Council is not right for her at the moment, Wasserfallen said in a press release. After all, she wants to be a candidate in the autumn of 2023 for the vacant seat in the Council of State of party colleague Hans Stöckli (70). “This job motivates me a lot and gives me a lot of pleasure.”

This increases Herzog’s chances

In addition, “I currently lead a work and family life that matches my personal ideas,” says Wasserfallen. It therefore refrains from making major changes to this balance.

This should pave the way for the Federal Council for Eva Herzog (60). The Basel SP councilor is expected to announce her candidacy for the Federal Council on Thursday morning. She is considered the favorite to succeed Sommeruga – even more so after the cancellation of Wasserfallen. So far, no SP politician has announced that he wants to run for office.

Cancellation follows cancellation

Instead, it has mostly rained on cancellations so far. Neither former Aargau councilor Pascale Bruderer (45), Zurich government councilor Jacqueline Fehr (59) or Bernese national councilor Nadine Masshardt (38) want to become federal councilor. Bernese national councilor and ex-Juso boss Tamara Funiciello (32) and Vaud state councilor Rebecca Ruiz (40) have also canceled.

The Zurich Council of States Daniel Jositsch (57) is the only one who has publicly stated that he wants to stand for absolute election. 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. (dba)