The Council of States elected Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP/JU) as first vice president. She received 45 of the 45 valid votes.
However, it is still unclear whether Baume-Schneider will hold the office in the long term: the SP party has nominated her, together with her Basel council member Eva Herzog, as a candidate to succeed Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga.
The second vice president was Lisa Mazzone (Greens/GE) with 45 of the 45 valid votes. Mazzone is the first green politician to sit in the presidency of the Council – a belated consequence of the “green wave” in the 2019 elections.
The list of presidents of the Council of States may soon become longer. Provided Baume-Schneider is not elected as a federal councilor on December 7 and defends her seat in the Council of States in 2023, she may succeed Häberli in a year. If Mazzone manages to return to the small room in the fall of 2023, the following year she will be the third woman in a row and the first Green ever to preside over the “Stöckli”.
Andrea Caroni (FDP/AR) is the new vote counter. The council has appointed Stefan Engler (centre/GR) as deputy vote counter. All elected officials moved up a notch towards the future Council presidency.
The members of the Council of States also re-elected Werner Salzmann (SVP/BE) as a new member of office.
(SDA)