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Beat Jans and Jon Pult have similar political profiles; It was therefore not a matter of choosing a direction. In secret elections like those for the Federal Council, the motives of those voting remain obscure.
Two points may have been decisive for Jans: firstly, Jans’ greater experience, namely his government experience in Basel. And secondly, that he was said to have been better received by the farmers in the hearing. Jans did an agricultural apprenticeship himself.
Lessons learned from Herzog defeat
Jans and his crew also learned from Eva Herzog’s painful defeat a year ago: her pointedly urban demeanor and insistence on a Basel claim after so many years had not convinced the Federal Parliament.
Jans has now presented himself as a bridge builder between urban and rural Switzerland. This has proven to be a clever tactic given the election, as the state government has to be there for everyone.
It was a legitimate wish that the two Basels would once again be represented in the Federal Council. This corner of Switzerland is a nationally important economic region. What is more important to me personally, however, is that Beat Jans gives cities a voice in the Federal Council.
SP in pole position for by-election in Basel
Jan’s election to the Federal Council means that the city canton must quickly elect a new member of the government and fill its regional council. The SP wants to defend both as the largest party, and it wants to nominate as early as December 20th.
The FDP and SVP, who are not represented in the cantonal executive today, also want to run – but they will have a difficult time against the SP. The election date is not until March 3rd, but candidacies must be registered by January 8th. So they actually have to be decided before Christmas if there is enough for election posters.