The government of Switzerland is a federal state with direct democracy.
The Federal Council is a cabinet of seven members. Since after World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions.
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, so named since 1979, is one of the seven Departments of the Swiss government federal administration of Switzerland, and corresponds in its range of tasks to the ministry of foreign affairs in other countries. The department is always headed by one of the members of the Swiss Federal Council. Since 1 November 2017, the department is headed by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis.
Alain Berset is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2012 to 2023. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he headed the Federal Department of Home Affairs from when he took office. Berset served as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2018 and 2023.
A by-election to the Swiss Federal Council was held in Switzerland on 16 September 2009, after incumbent Federal Councillor Pascal Couchepin announced his intention to retire on 31 October 2009.
FDP.The Liberals is a liberal political party in Switzerland. It is tied for the largest party in the Federal Council, is the third-largest party in the National Council and is the second-largest in the Council of States.
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.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the government of Switzerland, was held on 14 December 2011, following the federal election on 23 October 2011. Micheline Calmy-Rey announced she would not run for re-election to the council. According to a traditional informal convention, the successor has to come from the French-speaking or Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. The candidates for her post announced by their respective cantonal sections are Alain Berset (Fribourg), Pierre-Yves Maillard (Vaud), Stéphane Rossini (Valais), and Marina Carobbio (Ticino).
Michael Georg Link is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served a member of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013 and again since 2017. In addition to his parliamentary mandate, he has been serving as the Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the Federal Foreign Office in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2022.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 9 December 2015, following the federal election on 19 October 2015, for the 2016–2020 term.
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.
Isabelle Moret is a Swiss politician who served as President of the National Council from 2019 to 2020. A member of FDP.The Liberals since its foundation in 2009, she first entered the National Council in 2006 as a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD). Moret is a resident of Yens-sur-Morges in the canton of Vaud.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 11 December 2019, following the federal election on 20 October 2019, for the 2020–2024 term.
Violaine Blétry-de Montmollin is a Swiss politician, accountant, and estate manager. She served as the president of the Canton of Neuchâtel's branch of FDP.The Liberals from 2009 to 2011. Since 2016, Blétry-de Montmollin has served on the Neuchâtel Town Council and held the offices of Vice President and President.
Pascale Baeriswyl is a Swiss diplomat, Ambassador and currently Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations (UN) in New York. She was the first woman to hold the post of State Secretary of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and has headed the Swiss Mission to the UN in New York since June 2020. From January 2023 to December 2024, Baeriswyl will represent Switzerland on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), during the country's first ever term as an elected member of the council.
A by-election to the Swiss Federal Council was held on 20 September 2017, after federal councillor Didier Burkhalter (FDP-NE) announced he would leave the Council effective 31 October 2017. The by-election resulted in the election of Ignazio Cassis (FDP-TI), resulting in no change in the partisan composition of the council.
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.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, Switzerland's government, were held on 13 December 2023 for the 2024–2028 term. It followed the federal election held a month earlier and partly depended on its results.
Gerhard Andrey is a Swiss entrepreneur and politician who currently serves as a member of the Swiss National Council for the canton of Fribourg. A member of the Green Party of Switzerland Andrey was the Green Party's candidate for Federal Council in the 2023 Federal Council election to unseat incumbent FDP federal councillors, which did not succeed.
