Every year, Switzerland gets a new president. It happens so often that some Swiss people don’t know the name of their head of state. The role of Swiss president doesn’t come with the power of most presidencies. Switzerland’s president is selected from the seven-member Federal Council and the role comes with no additional constitutional powers than those conferred on the other six federal concillors. However, the president is given the job of dealing directly with other heads of state, even if only in a ceremonial capacity.
In 2025, the presidential baton will pass from Viola Amherd to Karin Keller-Sutter, a member of the FDP/PLR. Keller-Sutter’s presidency was supported by 168 members of the combined 200-member parliament and the 46-member Council of States, who voted.
KKS, as she is also known, spent her childhood in Wil in the canton of St. Gallen where she continues to live. She studied lingusitics at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and politics in London and Montreal. Later she trained and worked as a teacher.
Her political career started when she became a municipal councillor in Wil in 1992, a position she held until 2000 alongside being a parliamentary representative for the canton of St. Gallen from 1996 until 2000 when she became a member of the canton’s executive team.
In 2011, KKS was elected by the canton of St. Gallen to become a member of the Council of States, one of two cantonal members representing the canton in Switzerland’s federal upper house.
In 2018, she was elected as a member of the Federal Council, a position she still holds.
According to a reporter at SRF, KKS is highly respected but not loved. She has a reputation for being uncompromising on the nations financial situation, describing Switzerland’s debt brake as her best friend, something that has not endeared her to some on the left.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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