Plenty of traditions are associated with Switzerland’s national holiday on August 1st, from fireworks and bonfires to parades. But speeches – a whopping 20 of them – are also a huge part of the celebrations. Why are there so many?
Of the 20 speeches that Switzerland’s federal council will give on national holiday — including by the Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter — Albert Rösti is giving the most ( just like last year).
The federal councillor and member of Switzerland’s largest party the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is speaking at six separate events across the country on Thursday July 31st and Friday August 1st.
Élisabeth Baume-Schneider will give speeches in three different linguistic regions of the country, whilst Economy Minister Guy Parmelin will give three speeches.
President Keller-Sutter, will give her one speech in Grütli, in the canton of Uri.
So why are there so many speeches?
“Swiss federal councillors take part in local celebrations and meet the people directly at August 1st events,” said a federal council spokesperson
READ ALSO: Why does Switzerland celebrate its national day on August 1st?
“It’s not just about giving a speech, above all, it’s an opportunity for councillors to come into direct contact with the public,” he said, explaining that August 1st speeches have a long tradition in Switzerland and usually contain topics that link the past with the present.
Patriotism, not surprisingly, is the backbone of many speeches; the most frequent topics include democracy, Swiss values, and national identity.
“But this isn’t just a Swiss peculiarity, it’s no different in France on July 14th, Germany on October 3rd or the US on July 4th,” the spokesperson said.
Another contributory factor is that August 1st is the only officially regulated national holiday where the whole of Switzerland has the day off, so there are events across every canton.
And the way Switzerland is governed is also key: it has seven councillors who make up the Federal Council, the government executive that implements the laws decided by parliament.
The Council is elected by parliament for a term of four years with seats shared out among the four main parties according to a so-called magic formula – a 2-2-2-1 tacit agreement introduced in 1959.
READ ALSO: Explained: How does the Swiss political system work?
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According to Swiss law, the Federal Council must respect the regional and linguistic diversity of Switzerland, although there are no specific rules about how that’s done.
Currently, there are two federal councillors from the French Swiss-speaking part of the country (Guy Parmelin, SVP; Viola Ahmed, Centre), one from the Italian Swiss-speaking area (Ignazio Cassi, Liberals) and four from the Swiss-German area (Karin Keller-Sutter, Liberals; Albert Roesti, SVP; and Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, SDP; and Beat Jans, Social Democrats).
The August 1st speeches are also an opportunity for the councillors to announce their political programmes and promote themselves and their parties.
“I don’t listen to the speeches – I might read excerpts in the press, if anything – but maybe it’s not a bad thing that the federal council has to think about its major policy areas once a year AND explain them to people in a way they can understand,” Basel resident Louis told The Local.
So flags out, drinks in, and get ready for the speech marathon.
