Carlo Sommaruga | |
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| Member of the Council of States of Switzerland | |
| Assumed office 2019 | |
| Member of the National Council | |
| In office 2003–2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 July 1959 Zürich,Switzerland |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party of Switzerland |
Carlo Sommaruga (born 8 July 1959) is a Swiss lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP). He has been a National Councilor for over a decade and since 2019 he is a member of the Council of States.
He was born into a family with a political background in Zürich. His father is Cornelio Sommaruga,a former diplomat and president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He grew up in Geneva,where he studied law at the University of Geneva. [1] He obtained his lawyers license in 1989. [2] Subsequently,Sommaruga attended the Graduate Institute of Development Studies in 1984-1985. [3]
Between 1991 and 2001 he was a member of the municipal council of Thônex and a member of the Grand Council of Geneva from 2001 to 2003. [4] He became a member of the National Council in 2003 [4] and was re-elected until 2019. In November 2019 he was elected into the Council of States representing the SP for the Canton of Geneva. [5]
In 2007 he suggested that members of the Swiss diaspora were to be represented in Parliament,which in 2009 was voted down by the Council of States. [6] Since 2017 Sommaruga was a main force behind a law which would have prohibited nuclear weapons in Switzerland,both signed by the National council and the Counci of States, [7] but on request of the Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis,the Federal Council refused to sign it. [8]
As a member of the National Council,he was the co-president of the Parliamentarian Group for the relations to the Kurdish people. [9] He was also critical to the Israeli incursion into the Gaza strip in 2008–2009 and in 2017,he asked in the National Council if a prosecution would be launched against the Israeli politician Tzipi Livni,who visited Switzerland at the time. [10] Besides he is a supporter of the Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement with other politicians of the SP. [11]
He is a lawyer for the tenants' association of Switzerland in Geneva [1] and in November 2016,he was elected their president. [12] [13] Since 2018,he is also the president of the board of directors of the Swiss branch of the European NGO for social justice Solidar. [14]
Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS),she was the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs during her tenure as a Federal Councillor. She was President of the Swiss Confederation twice,in 2007 and 2011.
Willi Ritschard was a Swiss politician of the Social Democratic Party (SP). He is remembered as the first and to date only working class member of the Federal Council,the Swiss government. Prior to that,he was also a member of the cantonal government of Solothurn and a member of the National Council.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Switzerland since 1 July 2022. Legislation to open marriage to same-sex couples passed the Swiss Parliament in December 2020. The law was challenged in a referendum on 26 September 2021 by opponents of same-sex marriage and was approved with the support of 64% of voters and a majority in all 26 cantons. The law went into force on 1 July 2022. A provision of the law permitting same-sex marriages performed abroad to be recognised in Switzerland took effect on 1 January 2022. Switzerland was the seventeenth country in Europe and the 30th in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Cornelio Sommaruga was a Swiss humanitarian,lawyer and diplomat who is best known for having been President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1987 to 1999. He chaired the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Geneva. He was also active on a number of boards,such as the International Union Against Cancer. He was Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation For the Future,an organization dedicated to promoting human rights in the Middle East and North Africa,and the honorary President of Initiatives of Change International,a global organization dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture,nationality,belief,and background.
Simonetta Myriam Sommaruga is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2022. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS),she was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2015 and 2020.
Xavier Oberson is ordinary professor in Swiss and international tax law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva since 1994. He is also the founder and director of the LL.M. Tax at the University of Geneva.
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Ignazio Daniele Giovanni Cassis is a Swiss physician and politician who has been a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1 November 2017. A member of FDP.The Liberals,Cassis was elected to the Federal Council on 20 September 2017 following the resignation of Didier Burkhalter. He has headed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs since he took office. On 8 December 2021,Cassis was elected President of the Swiss Confederation for 2022.
Fabian Molina is a Swiss politician who currently serves on the National Council (Switzerland) for the Social Democratic Party since 2018. He succeeded Tim Guldimann and became the youngest member of the National Council (Switzerland) ever to be elected aged 28. He previously served as President of the Young Socialists between 2014 and 2016 as well as on the Cantonal Council of Zürich from 2017 to 2018. Since 2019,he is co-president of Swissaid.
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Beat Jans is a Swiss environmental scientist and politician who currently serves as a member of the Federal Council,after being elected in 2023 to succeed Alain Berset,assuming office on 1 January 2024. A member of the Social Democratic Party,he previously served on the National Council from 2010 to 2020,and president of the Executive Council of Basel-Stadt from 2021 to 2023.
Eva Herzog is a Swiss politician who has represented Basel-Stadt in the Council of States since 2019 and has served as the President of the Council since 2023. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS).
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Tamara Funiciello is a Swiss politician who currently serves as member of the National Council (Switzerland) since 2019 for the Social Democratic Party.
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Céline Marie-Claire Amaudruz is a Swiss banker,attorney and politician. She currently serves as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party since 5th December,2011. Amaudruz previously served as president of the Grand Council of Geneva between 2010 and 2016. She is among the richest Swiss politicians in the legislative estimated by Handelszeitung.
By-elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held on 7 December 2022,after federal councillors Ueli Maurer (SVP-ZH) and Simonetta Sommaruga (SP-BE) announced they would leave the Council effective 31 December of the same year. The parliament elected Albert Rösti and Élisabeth Baume-Schneider respectively to replace them.
Yves Robert Nidegger is a Swiss attorney and politician who formerly served as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party between 2007 and 2023 being succeeded by Thomas Bläsi. Previously,he was a member of the Grand Council of Geneva from 2005 to 2009,respectively congressional vice president of the Swiss People's Party Geneva from 2004 to 2006 and 2009 to 2010.
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