Swiss President
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The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the confederation, federal president or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is as ''
primus inter pares is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...
'' among the other members of the Federal Council formally the head of
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
's seven-member
executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
. Elected by the Federal Assembly for one year, the officeholder chairs the meetings of the Federal Council and undertakes special representational duties.
First among equals is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...
, the president of the Confederation has no powers over and above the other six councillors and continues to head the assigned department. Traditionally the duty rotates among the members in order of seniority; the vice president of the Federal Council assumes the presidency the year after the officeholder's tenure. The president of the Confederation is not the
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "
he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
because the entire Federal Council is the collective head of state. The constitutional provisions relating to the organisation of the Federal Government and federal administration are set out in ''Section 1 Organisation and Procedure'' of ''Chapter 3 Federal Council and Federal Administration'' of the ''Title 5 Federal Authorities'' of the
Swiss Federal Constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; (BV); (Cst.); (Cost.); ) of 18 April 1999 (SR 101) is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of ...
at articles 174 to 179. Article 176 specifically relates to the presidency. The current president is Karin Keller-Sutter, since 1 January 2025.


Competencies

The Swiss president is not – as are, for example, the presidents in Austria or
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
– the
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "
he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
of the country: under the
Swiss Federal Constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; (BV); (Cst.); (Cost.); ) of 18 April 1999 (SR 101) is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of ...
, the Federal Council doubles as a head of state and government. When a tied vote occurs in the council (which may happen despite an odd number of members, since abstention is permitted, and a meeting of the council can take place without all members present, subject to a quorum of four), the president's vote is worth double. In addition to the control of their own department, the president carries out some of the representative duties that are normally carried out by a single head of state in other democracies. For example, since joining the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
, Swiss presidents have on occasion spoken at inaugural sessions of the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
along with other visiting heads of state and government. However, because the Swiss have no single head of state, the country carries out no state visits. When travelling abroad, the president does so only in their capacity as head of their department. Visiting heads of state are received by the seven members of the Federal Council together, rather than by the president of the Confederation. Treaties are signed on behalf of the full council, with all Federal Council members signing
letters of credence A letter of credence (, ) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to another, asking them to give ...
and other documents of the kind.


Election

The president is elected by the Federal Assembly from the Federal Council for a term of one year. In the nineteenth century, the election as president of the confederation was an award for especially esteemed Federal Council members. However, a few less influential members of the government were regularly passed over. One such example was
Wilhelm Matthias Naeff Wilhelm Matthias Naeff (19 February 1802 – 21 January 1881) was a Swiss politician and one of the seven initial members of the Swiss Federal Council (1848–1875). Naeff was born in Altstätten into a long-established Rhine-Valley's family. Alr ...
, who – although a member of the Federal Council for 27 years – was president only once, in 1853. Since the twentieth century, the election has usually not been disputed. There is an unwritten rule that the member of the Federal Council who has not been president the longest becomes president. Therefore, every Federal Council member gets a turn at least once every seven years. The only question in the elections that provides some tension is the question of how many votes the person who is to be elected president receives. This is seen as a popularity test. In the 1970s and 1980s, 200 votes (of 246 possible) was seen as an excellent result, but in the current era of growing party-political conflicts, 180 votes are a respectable outcome. Until 1920, it was customary for the serving president to also lead the Department of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, every year there was a moving around of posts, as the retiring president returned to his former department and the new president took up the foreign affairs portfolio. Likewise, it was traditional for the president not to leave Switzerland during their year in office.


Vice-President of the Federal Council

A vice-president of the Federal Council is elected alongside the president of the Swiss Confederation; customarily, the elected vice-president is the member of the Federal Council who is expected to become president the following year. However, as for the choice of president, this rule is unwritten. The only formal rule, as specified in article 176 of the Swiss Constitution, is that the president can not be elected as either president or vice-president for the following year.


See also

*
Chancellor of Switzerland The federal chancellor is the head of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland, 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 Counci ...


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Government of Switzerland
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
1848 establishments in Switzerland
Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerlan ...
*