Eight candidates enter race for Switzerland’s Federal Council

Eight SVP members are competing for the seat Guy Parmelin is leaving, giving the party a broad regional field to weigh as it prepares its nomination. The slate contains seven men and one woman. Two candidates come from French-speaking Switzerland, one from Ticino and five from German-speaking Switzerland.

The candidates are parliamentarians Thomas Aeschi of Zug, Michael Graber of Valais, Rémy Wyssmann of Solothurn, Céline Amaudruz of Geneva and Marco Chiesa of Ticino. Three members of cantonal governments have also entered: Jean-Pierre Gallati of Aargau, Franz Ruppen of Valais and Pierre Alain Schnegg of Bern.

The SVP nomination committee announced the names after the deadline passed at noon on Friday. It will now hear the candidates before the party’s parliamentary group decides which names to advance to the Federal Assembly for the election. The committee says it may approach other individuals if necessary, keeping the selection process open while the eight candidates make their cases.

The eight candidates bring experience from parliament and cantonal government. Five are serving parliamentarians: Thomas Aeschi, Michael Graber, Rémy Wyssmann, Céline Amaudruz and Marco Chiesa. The other three, Jean-Pierre Gallati, Franz Ruppen and Pierre Alain Schnegg, sit in cantonal governments.

Their cantons span the country, from Geneva and Ticino to Zug, Solothurn, Aargau, Bern and Valais. The party’s regional tally places two candidates in French-speaking Switzerland, one in Ticino and five in German-speaking Switzerland. That spread gives the nomination committee a slate drawn from multiple parts of the country and different levels of public office.

The gender balance is also clear in the announced field: Amaudruz is the sole woman among seven men. The committee will consider leadership experience and skills as part of its assessment, alongside political positions. It has singled out the Justice and Defence ministries as areas where leadership capabilities are particularly important. The mix of parliamentary and cantonal roles will therefore be part of the committee’s review as it compares the candidates.

The SVP will test the candidates against the party’s core political priorities during hearings in the coming weeks. The nomination committee will examine their positions on armed neutrality and Switzerland’s self-determination, as well as the EU treaty package.

The review will also cover asylum and migration policy, the armed forces and internal security. Economic and domestic priorities include financial relief for the middle class and businesses, plus a secure and affordable energy supply. These subjects form the committee’s stated agenda for comparing the eight contenders.

The committee says leadership experience and skills will also carry central weight, particularly in relation to the Justice and Defence ministries. Former SVP parliamentary group leader Caspar Baader will chair the hearings. His committee will hear all eight announced candidates and retains the option of approaching additional individuals if needed. The process will place each contender’s policy positions and experience before the party’s selection body before it settles on a list for parliament.

The SVP parliamentary group is scheduled to decide its candidate list on November 20. That decision will determine which names the party presents to parliament for the Federal Council election. Before then, the nomination committee will hold hearings with all eight candidates under Caspar Baader’s chairmanship.

The committee’s assessment will combine political alignment with leadership experience and skills, with special attention to the Justice and Defence ministries. It will also hear candidates on the party’s positions covering neutrality, relations with the EU, migration, security, public finances and energy. The committee can approach other people if it considers that necessary.

For now, the contest is an internal SVP selection, with candidates drawn from cantonal and federal politics and from Switzerland’s linguistic regions. The next stated milestone is the parliamentary group’s November 20 decision. After that, the selected list will go before parliament, which elects members of the Federal Council.