Daniel Jositsch (57) on Tuesday, Evi Allemann (44) on Wednesday, Eva Herzog (60) on Thursday: SP politicians announced their candidacy for the Federal Council every day this week. Today the fourth in the group follows: the Jura State Councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (58) invited to the media conference. At 5 pm she gives information in the House of Cantons in Bern, the seat of several cantonal government conferences.
As Blick reported yesterday, she would also like to succeed the outgoing federal councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62).
The unknown candidate
Elizabeth who? Many, especially German-speaking Swiss, may have never heard of the name Romande. The former government councilor has been vice-chairman of SP Switzerland since the beginning of this year. She has represented the canton of Jura in the Council of States since 2019 and will chair the small chamber for a year from December 2023, provided she is still a member of the Council.
Who is the woman? And what are the arguments for a Federal Councilor Baume-Schneider? A portrait in 4 points:
1. Half Swiss German
Since the election of a French-speaking Swiss or a Ticino woman would give Latin Switzerland a majority in the seven-member Federal Council and thus be clearly over-represented, French-speaking Swiss candidates have a harder time. But Elisabeth Baume-Schneider has an asset in store in that regard.
Since her father is German-Swiss, she speaks perfect Swiss-German. An advantage not to be underestimated, which is probably one of the reasons why she has quickly made a name for herself in Bern since her election in 2019.
2. family wife
“The time is right for a young mother in government,” said SP co-chair Mattea Meyer (35). Elisabeth Baume-Schneider with her 58 years and two adult sons does not fit in the schedule.
But the former head of law school knows exactly what she’s talking about when it comes to the compatibility of a political career and family. In the 2000s, when she was still a cantonal councilor in the Jura, she caused a stir when she brought her baby to the meeting. A first in the history of the Jura and probably also at Swiss level.
3. First Jurassic
If Baume-Schneider were elected, the canton of Jura would be represented in the Federal Council for the first time. Unlike Eva Herzog, who also comes from a canton that has not been represented in the state government for a long time, the Jurassic inhabitant could also claim that she would represent the peripheral regions of the country, where a bus does not run every 15 minutes.
Baume-Schneider has always remained faithful to her village of Les Breuleux in the Franches-Montagnes. Black-nosed sheep graze in her garden, the social worker works on a voluntary basis in a solidarity grocery store, and her husband is a driving instructor by profession. But she also knows the urban reality of western Switzerland. For example, she headed the University of Social Work and Health in Lausanne for several years after leaving the Jura government in 2015.
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4. From the left wing
Elisabeth Baume-Schneider has been active in politics for decades. She served in the Jura government for 15 years before being elected to the Council of States in 2019 after a four-year hiatus from politics. There she chairs the Committee on Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy. It is said that her influential position in her faction is her greatest asset. She is able to forge alliances and compromise.
An advantage of the party’s internal decision could also be that it is so far the only candidate to come from the left wing of the party. Before joining the SP, she was a member of the Revolutionary Marxist League. That, in turn, could cost her votes in the bourgeois camp, should she get the SP ticket.
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One thing is certain: Baume-Schneider will start – despite her strengths – from an outsider position in the Bundesrat race. The Basel Council of State, Eva Herzog, is clearly the favourite. But it cannot be ruled out that there will be one or two surprises in the coming weeks.
The biggest hurdle for Herzog, who is politicking on the right side of the SP spectrum, is the internal party decision. If she doesn’t make the ticket, but Baume-Schneider does, the race is open again. And Baume-Schneider could roll up the field from behind.
Who wants to flee, who has refused? The overview of the Sommaruga successor.