“The cantonal government has never been as diverse as it is now”

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Ready men club! Since Sunday it has become clear that two women are again represented in the government of the canton of Lucerne. Ylfete Fanaj (40) did the election for the SP on Sunday. Michaela Tschuor (center) was elected to government in April in the first round of voting.

The joy is great, especially at the SP. She managed to return to the government of Lucerne with Fanaj – after an eight-year absence. She is almost happier with this fact than with her personal electoral success, Fanaj modestly tells Blick.

For the past eight years, the canton of Lucerne has been ruled by a purely middle-class male body. “The cantonal government has never been more diverse than it is now,” Fanaj enthused at the whiskey bar, where the festivities took place when it rained.

«First of all Lucerne»

With her, a person with roots in former Yugoslavia becomes a member of the government for the first time. She was nine years old when she fled from a village in Kosovo to Sursee in the canton of Lucerne. Today she lives with her child and her husband in the city of Lucerne.

She doesn’t particularly like being reduced to her integration: “Today I see myself first and foremost as a resident of Lucerne, even though my migration history belongs to me,” she says. Other candidates were also not mentioned as having a migration background.

This shows that the subject is not quite normal in Switzerland. However, it is right and important that the diverse population of Lucerne is also represented in the government, said Fanaj.

Secondas conquer politics

The fact that Secondas holds management positions in Switzerland is now becoming increasingly normal: in 2020, for example, Maria Pappa (52) was elected first mayor of St. Gallen. The Italian roots of the SP candidate hardly played a role during the election campaign.

SP co-chair Cedric Wermuth (37) also congratulated his ‘friend and comrade’ Fanaj on the election on Sunday. The SP returns ‘triumphantly to the government of Lucerne’, he said happily.

Fanaj is a social worker and has a lot of experience in politics. In 2007 she was elected to the Lucerne City Parliament and since 2011 she has been a member of the Cantonal Council, where she was the leader of the parliamentary group and chairperson of the Cantonal Council.

government reconvened

On Sunday, the SP woman from Lucerne could also count on the help of the center and the Greens, who nominated her for the elections. The Green Party candidate Christa Wenger withdrew after the first ballot.

Armin Hartmann, who defends the SVP seat in the government, was also easily elected. Lucerne’s five-member government is now complete again. Fabian Peter (so far FDP), Reto Wyss (centre, so far) and Michaela Tschuor were elected on the first ballot on April 2.

Source:Blick