Doris Leuthard | |
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President of Switzerland | |
In office 1 January 2017 –31 December 2017 | |
Vice President | Alain Berset |
Preceded by | Johann Schneider-Ammann |
Succeeded by | Alain Berset |
In office 1 January 2010 –31 December 2010 | |
Vice President | Moritz Leuenberger Micheline Calmy-Rey |
Preceded by | Hans-Rudolf Merz |
Succeeded by | Micheline Calmy-Rey |
Vice President of Switzerland | |
In office 1 January 2016 –31 December 2016 | |
President | Johann Schneider-Ammann |
Preceded by | Johann Schneider-Ammann |
Succeeded by | Alain Berset |
In office 1 January 2009 –31 December 2009 | |
President | Hans-Rudolf Merz |
Preceded by | Hans-Rudolf Merz |
Succeeded by | Moritz Leuenberger |
Head of the Department of Environment,Transport,Energy and Communications | |
In office 1 November 2010 –31 December 2018 | |
Preceded by | Moritz Leuenberger |
Succeeded by | Simonetta Sommaruga |
Head of the Department of Economic Affairs | |
In office 1 August 2006 –31 October 2010 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Deiss |
Succeeded by | Johann Schneider-Ammann |
Member of the Swiss Federal Council | |
In office 1 August 2006 –31 December 2018 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Deiss |
Succeeded by | Viola Amherd |
Personal details | |
Born | Merenschwand,Switzerland | 10 April 1963
Political party | Christian Democratic People's Party |
Spouse | Roland Hausin |
Alma mater | University of Zurich |
Doris Leuthard (born 10 April 1963) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2006 to 2018. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC),she was elected as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2010 and 2017. Leuthard headed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs until 2010,when she became head of the Federal Department of Environment,Transport,Energy and Communications. As of 19 December 2019 she is a member of the board of the Kofi Annan Foundation [1] [2] [3] and Stadler Rail. [4]
Leuthard was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1999 to 2006 for the canton of Aargau. She presided over the Christian Democratic People's Party from 2004 to 2006. [5] Following the resignation of Joseph Deiss from the Swiss Federal Council,Leuthard was elected as his successor on 14 June 2006. She received 133 out of 234 valid votes to become the 109th Federal Councillor. She is the fifth woman elected to the Federal Council. Her election represented a departure from a long precedent of replacing a Member of the Federal Council with someone from the same language group. While Deiss was a French speaker,Leuthard is a German speaker. [6]
From 1 August 2006 until 31 October 2010,she was head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs. On 1 November 2010 she became head of the Federal Department of Environment,Transport,Energy and Communications,succeeding Moritz Leuenberger. For the calendar year 2009,Leuthard was elected Vice President of the Swiss Confederation,virtually assuring her election as President of the Confederation for the calendar year 2010. Due to a large amount of turnover on the Federal Council in recent years,she was the longest-serving Federal Councillor not to have served as the body's president.
She was elected President of the Confederation for 2010 and 2017. [2] [7] [5] [8] She became the third woman to hold the post,after Ruth Dreifuss (1999) and Micheline Calmy-Rey (2007). [9] As President of the Confederation,Leuthard presided over meetings of the Federal Council and carried out representative functions that would normally be handled by a head of state in other democracies (though in Switzerland,the Federal Council as a whole is regarded as the head of state). She was also the highest-ranking official in the Swiss order of precedence and had the power to act on behalf of the whole Federal Council in emergency situations. However,in most cases,Leuthard was merely primus inter pares ,with no power above and beyond her six colleagues.
She was succeeded by Calmy-Rey in 2011,the first time two women held the office in succession. Following a reshuffle of portfolios after the by-election of two new Federal Councillors in 2010,Leuthard replaced outgoing Moritz Leuenberger at the head of the Federal Department of Environment,Transport,Energy and Communications. [10] In her capacity as minister,she was appointed by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in 2018 to the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation,co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Jack Ma. [11]
The project SAFFA 2020 is under the patronage of the three Federal Councillors:Leuthard,Simonetta Sommaruga and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf,as well as by the former Federal Councillor Calmy-Rey. [12]
In July 2022,Swiss media reported that Doris Leuthard was the victim of aggression by her husband in their vacation home in Ticino with a knife. Her husband has been detained in a psychiatric prison by the Swiss police because of the chance of recidivism and alcoholism. [4]
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. 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.
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.
Joseph Deiss is a Swiss economist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1999 to 2006. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC),he first headed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (1999–2002) before transferring to the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (2003–2006). Deiss was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 65th session in 2010.
The Council of Women World Leaders,created in 1996,is a network of 83 current and former presidents and prime ministers. It is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government. The council's Ministerial Initiative also involves current and former cabinet ministers and secretaries in the work of the council.
On December 12,2007,all seven members of the Federal Council,the government of Switzerland,were elected by the joint chambers of the Federal Assembly for the 2008–2012 term of office. Councillors are elected individually by an absolute majority of votes,with the incumbent councillors defending their seats in descending order of seniority.
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2008 to 2015. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) until 2008,she was then a member of the splinter Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) until 2021,when that party merged into The Centre. Widmer-Schlumpf was the head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police from 2008 to 2010,when she became head of the Federal Department of Finance. She served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2012.
Two by-elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held in Switzerland on 22 September 2010,after federal councillors Moritz Leuenberger (SP) and Hans-Rudolf Merz announced they would step down from the Federal Council towards the end of the year. The by-elections resulted in the elections of Simonetta Sommaruga from the SP and Johann Schneider-Ammann from the FDP,resulting in no change in the partisan composition of the council. It also resulted in the first majority of women on the Federal Council in its history,with Sommaruga joining Micheline Calmy-Rey,Doris Leuthard and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
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.
Johann Niklaus Schneider,known as Johann Schneider-Ammann,is a Swiss businessman and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2018. A member of FDP.The Liberals,he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2016. During his tenure as a Federal Councillor,Schneider-Ammann headed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs,Education and Research.
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).
Women in Switzerland gained the right to vote in federal elections after a referendum in February 1971. The first federal vote in which women were able to participate was the 31 October 1971 election of the Federal Assembly. However it was not until a 1990 decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland that women gained full voting rights in the final Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden.
Events from 2011 in Switzerland.
Women in Switzerland are women who live in and are from Switzerland. The legal and social role of Swiss women has evolved significantly from the mid-20th century onwards.
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.
Viola Patricia Amherd is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019,and as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2024 since 1 January. She is the head of the Federal Department of Defence,Civil Protection and Sport. Amherd was a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) before it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre (DM/LC) in 2021,which she joined.
By-elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held on 5 December 2018,after federal councillors Johann Schneider-Ammann (FDP-BE) and Doris Leuthard (CVP-AG) announced in September they would leave the Council effective 31 December of the same year.
Events during the year 2002 in Switzerland.
Events during the year 2003 in Switzerland.
Events during the year 2008 in Switzerland.