Federal Council election SVP supports Ritter "by a large majority" - Greens and SP still hesitant
A "large majority" of the SVP parliamentary group will support the centrist candidate Markus Ritter in tomorrow's Federal Council election. The Greens and the SP are still hesitating with their decision.
11.03.2025, 16:39
11.03.2025, 17:26
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- The majority of the SVP parliamentary group is supporting Markus Ritter in tomorrow's Federal Council election, as they believe he has strong leadership skills and experience in Bern.
- The Greens are unhappy with the center ticket and will only decide on an election recommendation on Wednesday morning.
- The SP is sticking to the official centrist ticket, but expresses unease about the lack of a female candidate and the political orientation of the candidates.
The SVP parliamentary group will "overwhelmingly" support the centrist candidate Markus Ritter in tomorrow's Federal Council election. This was announced on Tuesday by the numerically strongest parliamentary group under the Federal Palace dome.
Ritter shows the necessary will to lead in order to tackle the problems in the Department of Defense, the SVP Switzerland wrote in its press release. As a long-standing member of parliament, he is familiar with the processes in federal Bern. Ritter has shown in important dossiers that he can bring about viable solutions and alliances.
It is generally assumed that the new member of the Federal Council elected on Wednesday will take over the Defense Department. This is because the current Defense Minister Viola Amherd is stepping down at the end of March.
The SVP writes that the future head of the DDPS must re-establish Switzerland's security and armed neutrality. It is committed to concordance and respects the official ticket of the Center Party.
Green parliamentary group has not yet decided on election recommendation
Following the hearing of the two centrist candidates for the Federal Council, the Green parliamentary group has not yet decided on an election recommendation. It does not intend to do so until Wednesday morning, shortly before the election date. This was announced by parliamentary group leader Aline Trede on Tuesday.
The parliamentary group had asked Markus Ritter and Martin Pfister a lot of questions, the Bernese National Councillor reported from the hearing. "They answered them more or less to our satisfaction." Nevertheless, Trede made no secret of the fact that her parliamentary group was not satisfied with the ticket.
Because regardless of whether Pfister or Ritter wins the race in the end, a quarter of voters are still not represented in the Federal Council. There is also the generational issue. "No matter who is elected: The Federal Council is a body in which everyone was born in the same eight years."
There was a big discussion in the parliamentary group about why the third-largest party did not manage to have a balanced ticket. Women are also underrepresented in the Federal Council. And the topics of climate, environment and biodiversity are "extremely underrepresented" in the government.
"That worries us"
"That worries us," said Trede. After all, the two centrist candidates had assured the Greens that they would recognize their role in climate issues and progress for the climate and that their doors were open to the Greens. "We are the largest opposition party in this House and we want to hold them to that."
The Green parliamentary group will decide on Wednesday morning whether or not to make an election recommendation. And even if it does not contest the centrist seat, it intends to claim a seat in the Federal Council in the next Federal Council elections, as Trede said.
SP sticks to the official ticket
The SP parliamentary group will stick to the official ticket of the centrist party in the Federal Council elections on Wednesday. After hearing the two candidates, it has not yet decided whether it will support Markus Ritter or Martin Pfister.
The system of official tickets is closely linked to concordance, said SP co-faction leader Samuel Bendahan on Tuesday afternoon in the Federal Palace: "It is part of what works well in the Swiss system." This is because it enables genuine cooperation in government.
One of the official candidates will therefore be supported, said the Vaudois National Councillor. At the point de presse of Bendahan and his co-leader of the parliamentary group Samira Marti, the SP's unease with the centrist election proposal was nevertheless palpable.
No woman nominated for election
Bendahan explicitly referred to the criticism in recent weeks that the two candidates were too far to the right politically. Marti criticized in particular the fact that the centre-right party is not proposing a woman for election.
The claim of the center to the Federal Council seat is completely undisputed, said the National Councillor from Basel. However, the fact that there would only be two women in the Federal Council after the election was actually a political drama for the SP.
According to Marti, the Social Democratic parliamentary group will continue to discuss its strategy for the Federal Council election on Wednesday morning.
