He declined election to the Federal Council Former SP National Councillor Francis Matthey is dead
Francis Matthey from Neuchâtel was a member of the National Council from 1987 to 1995. (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
Francis Matthey and Christiane Brunner on March 3, 1993 after the Federal Council election: The SP proposed a woman, parliament elected a man. (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
Francis Matthey from Neuchâtel was a member of the National Council from 1987 to 1995. (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
Francis Matthey and Christiane Brunner on March 3, 1993 after the Federal Council election: The SP proposed a woman, parliament elected a man. (archive picture)
Image: Keystone
Former Neuchâtel SP National Councillor Francis Matthey has died at the age of 82 following an illness. He was best known for the rejection of his election to the Federal Council in 1993.
20.03.2025, 14:46
20.03.2025, 15:18
SDA
"We learned of Francis Matthey's death this morning," confirmed Matthias Lebet, co-president of the Neuchâtel Jura SP, to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Thursday, as reported by RTS. "This great man has done a lot for his region and his party and has left his mark on several generations," he added.
The SP politician from La Chaux-de-Fonds was elected to the Federal Council on March 3, 1993, succeeding René Felber. A week later, he announced that he would renounce his election in order to remain loyal to his party.
"We learned of Francis Matthey's death this morning," confirmed Matthias Lebet, co-president of the SP of the Neuchâtel Jura, to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Thursday, as reported by RTS. "This great man did a lot for his region and his party and left his mark on several generations," he added.
"This death makes me very sad, even though I knew that Francis Matthey had been very ill for several months. His illness left him very weak, even though he had remained very active until then and loved to go for walks in the countryside," said Didier Berberat, former member of the National Council (SP/NE).
From 1976 to 1988, Matthey was a municipal councillor in La Chaux-de-Fonds. For the last eight years, he held the office of mayor.
Career with a twist
As successor to René Felber, who was elected to the Federal Council, he was appointed to the Neuchâtel State Council in 1988, where he remained in office until May 2000. Matthey, father of four children, initially headed the Department of Finance and Social Affairs and later the Department of Economic Affairs.
Parallel to his executive offices, he was a member of the Grand Council from 1981 to 1988 and of the National Council from 1987 to 1995. During this time, Matthey experienced a painful episode in his political career.
On March 3, 1993, the United Federal Assembly elected the Neuchâtel native to the Federal Council as René Felber's successor. This was despite the fact that the official candidate on the Social Democratic ticket was a woman - Christiane Brunner, a trade unionist and National Councillor from Geneva.
After a week of reflection, Matthey announced that he would renounce his election in order to remain loyal to his party. Following Matthey's renunciation, parliament elected Ruth Dreifuss to the national government.
Commitment to the National Exhibition
In 1999, Matthey also had to give up his post as president of the strategic committee of the national exhibition Expo.01, which had to be postponed for a year due to various problems. The Neuchâtel native later became President of the Expo.02 association, which was held in the Three Lakes region.
He also chaired the Federal Commission on Migration until 2011.
