Vatter says Federal Council must represent Switzerland’s diversity

Political skills and the ability to represent Switzerland’s diverse population should both matter in choosing a successor to Guy Parmelin, political scientist Adrian Vatter told SRF. He said the country’s regions, languages and genders should be reflected in the Federal Council.

Vatter, a professor of political science at the University of Bern, said a Federal Council member must be able to lead a department and help govern the country. But members also serve as figures with whom people can identify, he said, making representation important to national cohesion.

He warned that focusing on representation can also mean that candidates’ abilities receive too little attention. Still, Vatter said, Switzerland’s diverse society needs minorities represented in government, including people from Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland, as well as both women and men. He added that media attention and the personalisation of politics have made representation more important in recent years.

Vatter criticised the candidate ticket system used by parties, saying it limits the Federal Assembly’s independence when electing Federal Council members. If lawmakers reject a party’s nominees, he said, the result could be political chaos. In his view, parties and their parliamentary group leaders now largely determine who is elected, despite the constitutional mandate for the Federal Assembly to choose the government.

He said the nominating party should not effectively decide alone who can stand, and argued that candidates outside a party’s official selection should again be able to run.