2019 Swiss Federal Council election
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 11 December 2019, following the federal election on 20 October 2019, for the 2020–2024 term.
All Federal Councillors were reelected to their seats by the Federal Assembly in the first round of voting, either for another full four-year term or a first full four-year term. No portfolio changes were made after the election.
Background
The Federal Council is the federal executive of Switzerland. It is composed of 7 members, elected for a 4-year term by both houses of the Swiss parliament sitting together as the Federal Assembly after each federal election. Decisions are taken collegially, only deferring to a vote when no consensus can be reached; decisions once taken are then defended by the entire council acting as a single decision-maker.Any Swiss eligible to the National Council is eligible to the Federal Council, but historically most councillors elected are members of the legislature. Elections are held using secret ballot and candidate need an overall majority of valid votes to be elected. Each seat is elected independently and sequentially, in order of seniority.
The parliament cannot remove from office any councillor nor vote a non-confidence motion against it. Federal councillors are usually re-elected until they resign, sometimes during their term ; only four have been unseated in the Council's history.
Magic formula
The Magic formula is an unwritten agreement between the parties to share the seats on the Federal Council as a national unity coalition. The three largest parties receive 2 seats each, and the fourth largest party receives the last seat. It was used since 1959, with the exception of a period between 2007 and 2015 after the SVP/UDC expelled its two federal councillors.The formula was put in question after the surge in votes of the greens and green-liberals in the federal election a month earlier; the traditional 4 parties only represented 68.9% of the National Council which was the lowest in history. Calls were made either to replace the formula with a five-party coalition or expand its size to nine seats, the latter was rejected by referendum last time in 1942 but it is also seen as a way to split the two largest federal departments.
Incumbents
Incumbents, in descending order of seniority, including political party affiliation and department at the time of the election:- Ueli Maurer, from Zürich, head of the Federal Department of Finance,
- Simonetta Sommaruga, from Bern, head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications,
- Alain Berset, from Fribourg, head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs,
- Guy Parmelin, from Vaud, head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research,
- Ignazio Cassis, from Ticino, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs,
- Viola Amherd, from Valais, head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport,
- Karin Keller-Sutter, from St. Gallen, head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police.