Center Party to make first decisions on Amherd's successor

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• Viola Amherd has surprisingly announced her resignation from the Federal Council at the end of March 2025.
• Today, Monday, the centrist party wants to make its first decisions on the procedure for the allocation of its Federal Council seat.
• The successor to the centrist Federal Councillor is expected to be elected by Parliament on the Wednesday of the second week of the spring session, i.e. on 12 March.

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"At our delegates' meeting on February 22, our nominated candidates will be able to present themselves to the grassroots," promised party president Gerhard Pfister in an interview with the "NZZ am Sonntag." On Monday, the leadership of the centrist party is expected to determine the procedure for the allocation of its Federal Council seat. A selection committee will also be appointed, as Pfister said last week on Swiss radio SRF. On Saturday, Pfister announced that he himself would not be standing for Amherd's successor. He had already announced his resignation as leader of the centrist party at the beginning of the year.

It will then also be decided how many candidates it intends to put forward for election to the United Federal Assembly. In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung, parliamentary group leader Philipp Matthias Bregy assumed that "we will present at least two candidates".

She has a good relationship with Volodymyr Selenskyj: former Federal Councillor Viola Amherd (left) with the Ukrainian President at a conference in Budapest. (November 7, 2024)

Picture: Keystone/Peter Klaunzer

In Bregy's words, these candidacies should have "a certain breadth in terms of political orientation or gender". It is customary for parliament to stick to the ticket when voting. However, it is not mandatory.

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Questions from the parliamentary groups

The new member of the Federal Council is expected to be elected by the National Council and the Council of States on March 12 and will serve until the end of 2027, i.e. until the end of the current four-year term of office. The date for the election has yet to be formally set.

Before election day, the candidates have to answer questions from the parliamentary groups. These hearings usually take place in the first two weeks of the session; however, final arrangements can be made up to the time of the election. Voting is by secret ballot, so it is not possible to see who voted for whom.