Welcome, Mr. Councillor.
| Fonction | NEWS |
The newest member of the Swiss Federal Council, Didier Burkhalter, will officially begin work on November 1.
The 49-year-old senator from Neuchatel will fill the Council seat vacated by Pascal Couchepin, who announced his resignation in June following 11 years in the position. Couchepin was head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (encompassing Social Affairs, Health and Education), and a member of the centre-right Radical Party (FDP).
Parliament voted Burkhalter in on September 16. An economist and fellow member of the FDP--as is Council President Hans-Rudolf Merz--he has represented French-speaking Switzerland for nearly 20 years on both the state and federal government level.
"I can say it, I am very pleased," Burkhalter said of his appointment, shortly after he was voted in, and reported by the TagesAnzeiger daily newspaper. "But I keep it to myself."
The newest Federal Council member has been dubbed "Mr. Cool" by the national press for his lack of outward emotion, and the intensity with which he maintains his personal and family privacy. Married to Sabine Friedrun for 23 years, the couple has three sons. They met in England, where each was studying English.
"We both wanted to learn English, but we learned love," Burkhalter said in an interview with TeleZuri.
Burkhalter beat out House of Representatives member Christian Luscher of Geneva, also of the FDP, and Urs Schwaller, Fribourg senator and member of the Christian Democratic Party (CVP).
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Former FDP party president Franz Steinegger told the TagesAnzeiger that Burkhalter is a serious worker with a strong sense of responsibility, who will manage his dossier with an approach toward detail work, rather than big ideas like his predecessor Couchepin.
Mixed reviews
Burkhalter's election got mixed reviews from the national media.
The TagesAnzeiger called Burkhalter "a good choice" and said, "cautious and colourless Didier Burkhalter follows witty, arrogant and brilliant Couchepin". The daily concluded that...
Pour continuer la lecture
SOLLICITEZ VOTRE ESSAICOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
