Politics

Centre Party snail race to replace Amherd

11.04.2025 – Christof Forster

No one in the Centre Party was initially willing to throw their hat into the ring to succeed outgoing Federal Councillor Viola Amherd, after a slew of potential candidates ruled themselves out of consideration. Martin Pfister eventually won the Centre Party snail race. He was elected to the Federal Council on 12 March.

The future was looking a little brighter for the Centre Party not so long ago. After years of trending downwards, its share of the vote finally improved slightly in the autumn 2023 national elections. The Centre was more or less on a par with the FDP in the polls. The merger with the BDP and the name change from CVP had paid off. The party had regained its mojo. There was even talk of targeting a second seat on the Federal Council.

Less buoyant

Just one year later and the Centre Party is no longer as buoyant. Viola Amherd stepping down from government evolved into a mini-drama. For a while, it was unclear whether there would be enough suitable Centre candidates to stand as her successor. Supposed frontrunners – party chair Gerhard Pfister (Zug), National Councillor Martin Candinas (Grisons), and members of the Council of States, Isabelle Chassot (Fribourg) and Benedikt Würth (St Gallen) – ruled themselves out. Why? The heavy workload. Or family reasons. Or lack of inner fire.

No female candidates

Seeing an opportunity, National Councillor Markus Ritter (canton of St Gallen), who is also head of the Swiss Farmers’ Union, took the bull by the horns and threw his hat into the ring. Only at the very last moment did the Zug cantonal government minister Martin Pfister also decide to enter the race, thus sparing the Centre Party the embarrassment of only having one candidate standing for election. However, no women were willing to put themselves forward, despite the women’s wing of the party calling for a female candidate.

Elected to the Federal Council – Martin Pfister began as the outsider but won the most votes. Photo: Keystone

Ritter – a familiar figure in the lower house – began as favourite, despite his aggressive lobbying for farmers having earned him a certain notoriety in parliament. Pfister, on the other hand, was banking on his consensus-seeking, personable style of politics to make up for his lack of star quality in Berne. A former colonel in the army, Pfister also tried to underline his military past, saying that he was more accustomed to the officer’s mess than the Federal Palace. It was Pfister who eventually won, receiving 134 votes from the upper and lower chamber of the Federal Assembly on 12 March – just at the time of our editorial deadline. Markus Ritter, who started as the favourite, received 110 votes.

Challenging times for defence

When Amherd resigned as Federal Councillor, the popular assumption was that her successor would have to pick up where Amherd finished at the defence ministry (DDPS). This may have been one of the reasons why some notable names decided against running on the Centre Party ticket. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, newly elected federal councillors long regarded the DDPS as the short straw. They would normally escape to a more important and prestigious post at the first opportunity. When Federal Councillor Adolf Ogi (SVP) was assigned the defence portfolio against his will in the 1990s, he complained that it was like being relegated to Nationalliga B (the second tier of Swiss football).

Amid the Ukraine war and threats to cybersecurity, the DDPS is now one of the government’s most important ministries. The military budget has been significantly increased. With 12,000 staff, the DDPS is the biggest government ministry.

Many challenges await the DDPS’s new boss. Several procurement projects have been botched. Continued delays in the full delivery of Israeli-manufactured reconnaissance drones are the latest example. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) voiced its concern in January. The procurement projects are worth 19 billion Swiss francs. Pfister will also have to manage cooperation with NATO, after the Federal Council – under pressure from both sides of the political divide – announced its intention to deepen ties with the alliance.

Back Current issue Dossiers

Centre Party snail race to replace Amherd

Less buoyant

No female candidates

Challenging times for defence

Comments

Subscribe to the SwissCommunity newsletter

We thank our partners:

Centre Party snail race to replace Amherd

Less buoyant

No female candidates

Challenging times for defence

articles with same section