Federal Councilor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s Justice and Police minister Thursday called on voters to reject the anti-minaret proposal which will be put to them in a referendum 29 November, saying that it is unconstitutional and runs counter to Swiss values. Eveline Widmer Schlumpf told a press conference that the proposal, from the right-wing UDC of which she was once a member, does not respect Switzerland’s freedom of religious expression. She argues that this means not only that people are free to hold religious beliefs, but also to express them openly and publicly in appropriate places of worship.
Didier Burkhalter, Neuchatel, new Swiss cabinet member
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Didier Burkhalter, 49, a Radical party (centre-right) politician from Neuchatel, was elected by the Swiss parliament to the country’s seven-member Federal Council (cabinet) with 129 votes against 106 for the other candidate, Urs Schwaller, PDC (also centre), on the fourth round of voting. He succeeds Pascal Couchepin, from canton Valais, who is retiring 1 November. Burkhalter’s election means his party will retain its seat on the council and the balance remains unchanged in the power-sharing Swiss government. The language balance remains intact as well, with one French-speaking canton representative replaced by another.
Details: Swissinfo and on radio, WRS. Swiss French media: Le Temps, Tribune de Geneve/24 Heures, TSR
Background story, GenevaLunch
Bern, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Christoph Blocher, former federal councilor, could be elected to the cabinet again if his right-wing UDC party’s discussions with parties of the centre go well, UDC leader Toni Brunner says.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Samuel Schmid, one of Switzerland’s seven federal councilors, resigned Wednesday afternoon, citing health concerns and political pressure. Schmid, minister for Defense, Civil Protection and Sport, also noted that at age 62, after eight years as a cabinet member and a long political service to the country, the time had come to step down and spend more time with his family. Schmid has been under attack from several directions over his management of the Swiss military programme, dating back at least to the summer of 2007. His appointment to head the Swiss armed forces, Roland Nef, came under fire then because a newspaper learned that his former companion had taken him to court for using her e-mail address in responding to sex-related classified ads online.
Bern, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Swiss federal councilor Samuel Schmid successfully underwent surgery Friday in what doctors called a “routine” emergency operation; he will be released from hospital Sunday.
St Gallen, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Hans Rudolf Merz, Switzerland’s finance minister and federal councillor, underwent coronary bypass surgery Sunday following failure of his circulatory system Saturday. Doctors report that he is doing well.
Bern, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Switzerland now must wait until Thursday morning for Eveline Widmer Schlumpf to announce whether or not she will accept her election to the post of federal councillor. According to TSR she has asked for time until then to reflect on her decision. The government now has six of its seven councillors, but the UDC has for some time threatened to pull out its two councillors if both were not re-elected. Christoph Blocher was not and it is unclear if Samuel Schmid will refuse to take his seat, which would leave Switzerland without a government.
- 11:25, Doris Leuthard re-elected comfortably. The centre-right politician’s election completes the round of voting, but the candidates must still accept their elections before the cabinet’s composition is confirmed.
- 11:10, Hans-Rudolf Merz, a center-right Radical party member, was elected the sixth Council member.
- Ed. note, 11:05, virtually all French news web sites in Switzerland are
down at the moment due to an overload of visitors. This much is clear:
the Swiss are following the election. See also: Le Temps, results and analysis - 10:45. Christoph Blocher, UDC, has been defeated during a second round of voting, a major victory for the center and left, with Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf elected in his place. She is a UDC party member from Grisons, but as yet has not accepted the election. A motion from the UDC president to halt proceedings until later today to allow time for reflection was roundly defeated. Her election could bring to three the number of women on the seven-member council if Doris Leuthard, whose seat is the last one up for election, is also elected.
- 10:15. Four of the seven members of the Swiss government have been re-elected: Micheline Calmy-Rey, Samuel Schmid, Moritz Leuenberger and Pascal Couchepin. The other three seats are still being debated, with the Socialist party removing its candidate, Luc Recordon, but refusing to support Christoph Blocher’s re-election.
