Former cantonal director of finance nominated to stand for seat

After much speculation it can now be confirmed that Peter Hegglin, who currently represents Zug in the Council of States in Bern, will be standing as a candidate for a seat in the seven-member Federal Council, the Swiss government.

The governing council of the cantonal CVP party announced last Wednesday evening that Hegglin, a former director of finance in Zug, will be competing against others in the party for a seat as federal councillor. Other candidates include Heidi Z’graggen, a member of the cantonal government of Uri, and Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter, who sits in the National Council representing the canton of Rural Basel. One other potential candidate, Viola Amherd, who represents the canton of Wallis in the National Council, has postponed her decision as she has had to undergo an operation to have a kidney stone removed.

It is on Saturday 17 November that the national CVP party, led incidentally by Gerhard Pfister who represents Zug in the National Council, will decide who is stand for the seat on the Federal Council to be vacated by Doris Leuthard; she currently heads the Federal Department of Transport, Communications and Energy but has announced her retirement. As to who will succeed her, this will be made known following elections by parliamentarians in Bern on Wednesday 5 December.

According to local political sources, there is no doubt that Edlibach-resident Hegglin, who turns 58 in December, would be an excellent choice, not least with his many years’ experience as cantonal director of finance, as mentioned, and who was also the vice-chairman of the Conference of Cantonal Directors of Finance between 2008 and 2013 and subsequently chairman until 2016, when he took his seat in the national parliament. Indeed, even politicians of different parties, such as Thomas Aeschi of the SVP party who represents Zug in the National Council, welcomed Hegglin’s nomination. Other politicians who have their reservations would still welcome a representative of Zug on the Federal Council.