The Federal Chancellor is the head of the

Federal Chancellery of Switzerland The Federal Chancellery of Switzerland is a department-level agency of the federal administration of Switzerland. It is the staff organisation of the federal government, the Federal Council. Since 2016, it has been headed by Federal Chancellor ...

, the oldest Swiss federal institution, established at the initiative of Napoleon in 1803. The officeholder acts as the general staff of the seven-member

Federal Council Federal Council may refer to: Governmental bodies * Federal Council of Australasia, a forerunner to the current Commonwealth of Australia * Federal Council of Austria, the upper house of the Austrian federal parliament * Federal Council of Germa ...

. The Chancellor is not a member of the government and the office is not at all comparable to that of the

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the ...

or the

Chancellor of Austria The chancellor of the Republic of Austria () is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies. Current officeholder is Karl Nehammer of the A ...

. The current Chancellor, Walter Thurnherr, a member of The Centre from

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capit ...

, was elected on 9 December 2015. He began his term on 1 January 2016. Thurnherr was reelected on 11 December 2019.

Election

The Federal Chancellor is elected for a four-year term by both chambers of the Federal Assembly, assembled together, at the same time (and by the same process) as it elects the Federal Council. The election is conducted by

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential v ...

using an

exhaustive ballot The exhaustive ballot is a voting system used to elect a single winner. Under the exhaustive ballot the elector casts a single vote for their chosen candidate. However, if no candidate is supported by an overall majority of votes then the candid ...

in which each member of the Assembly can vote for any eligible person in the first two rounds, but only remaining candidates in subsequent rounds. If no candidate receives an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

, the candidate(s) with the fewest votes is eliminated.

Vice-Chancellors

One or two Vice-Chancellors are also appointed. In contrast to the Chancellor, they are appointed directly by the Federal Council. Prior to 1852, the position was called the State Secretary of the Confederation. The two current Vice-Chancellors are André Simonazzi from

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

(Independent) since 2009 (also spokesman of the Federal Council) and Viktor Rossi from Bern ( GLP/PVL) since 2019.

Role

The position is a political appointment and has only a technocratic role. The Chancellor attends meetings of the Federal Council but does not have a vote. The Chancellor also prepares the Federal Council's reports to the Federal Assembly on its policy and activities. Still, the Chancellor's position is often referred to as that of an "eighth Federal Councillor". The chancellery is also responsible for the publication of all federal laws."Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr"
www.bk.admin.ch.

List of Federal Chancellors

Sources

* * Hans-Urs Willi. "
The Chancellor: a few historical highlights on the development of their person and the office from ancient times to the Middle Ages and the Zenden Republic of Valais
'". ''In'' Klaus, Michel (editor): Quelle chance pour nos institutions? Mélanges offerts à Monsieur François Couchepin, chancelier de la Confédération à l'occasion de son 60e anniversaire / Festschrift für Bundeskanzler François Couchepin zum 60. Geburtstag. Schlieren 1995. Translated by Paul Suffrin and Elsbeth Hagan.

References

Notes

External links

* ''A Walk through the History of the Federal Chancellery'', i
GermanFrench
an
Italian
on the web site of the Federal Chancellery * {{Authority control 01 . Federal Chancellors Federal Chancellors