Successor to Ueli Maurer – Hans-Ueli Vogt wants to become Federal Councilor – News

  • The SVP of the Canton of Zurich presented Hans-Ueli Vogt as a candidate for the Federal Council.
  • The 52-year-old lawyer is expected to make the leap into the state government on December 7th. Because with Maurer a Zurich resigns.
  • With Vogt, there are now five candidates who want to take office.

Vogt is a former member of the National Council. He justified his resignation at the end of 2021 by saying that he wanted to concentrate on his work as a lawyer and professor of private and commercial law.

At the time he said that politics sometimes made him feel like a tennis player on a soccer field. When asked about this at the media conference in Zurich on Wednesday, he said: “I meant the work in Parliament. I’ve always kept a possible executive office open to myself.”

Rita Fuhrer, the president of the selection committee, described Vogt as the perfect candidate. Vogt connects the urban with the rural. In addition, he lived abroad for several years, in contrast to the current members of the Federal Council.

Rather shy

The city of Zurich would be the first federal councilor to live openly homosexually. When asked whether Switzerland is ready for the first gay Federal Council, the president of the selection committee was slightly annoyed. “Would you also ask this question to a leftist?” Fuhrer asked back.

Vogt himself said that he had not expected this question. His sexual orientation plays no role in politics. Much has already been achieved in Switzerland for the minority to which he belongs.

A serious candidate


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Hans-Ueli Vogt is a serious candidate for the SVP, says SRF parliamentary correspondent Dominik Meier. “His appearance in front of the media was sovereign.” Vogt cleverly positioned himself as an urban, Zurich candidate – in contrast to the previous favorite, the rural Albert Rösti from Bern. Meier speaks of a liberation for the Zurich SVP: “The SVP faction will hardly be able to avoid putting Hans-Ueli Vogt on the election ticket.” The pressure from the powerful Zurich SVP is too great to be taken into account when choosing a replacement for Ueli Maurer. Vogt also has a good connection to SVP doyen Christoph Blocher. Rösti is still the crown favorite at the moment, according to the Bundeshaus editor. “But Vogt mixes up the race.”

The former National Councilor Vogt is considered to be rather reserved. He once said of himself that he was “not very good at generating attention”. Rather, he is constructive and interested in solutions. This is also meant in connection with the work in Parliament, he clarified on Wednesday. He is well aware that a Federal Councilor is in the public eye. But seeking attention just for the purpose is not his thing.

Vogt is the fifth candidate

So far, the Bernese National Councilor Albert Rösti, the Bernese Council of States Werner Salzmann, the Zug Finance Director Heinz Tännler and the Nidwalden Government Councilor Michèle Blöchliger have announced their candidacy.

The Federal Assembly will elect Finance Minister Maurer’s successor on December 7th

These politicians want to succeed Maurer

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