Possible candidate for the Federal Council - Peter Hegglin

In just under three weeks’ time, on Saturday 17 November, the CVP party will be announcing which one of four candidates it will be nominating to stand for election to the Federal Council on Wednesday 5 December.

It can now be confirmed the four candidates are 52-year-old Heidi Z’graggen, a primary schoolteacher with a doctorate in political science from Erstfeld in the canton of Uri, 56-year-old Viola Amherd, a lawyer from Brig in the canton of Wallis, 54-year-old Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter, a lawyer from Biel-Benken in the canton of Rural Basel, and 57-year-old Peter Hegglin, a farmer and former director of finance from Edlibach here in Zug.

When these were interviewed by the press, Hegglin, who was a member of the Zug cantonal government for 13 years before taking up his seat in the Council of States in Bern in 2015, mentioned how he was very much influenced by Robert Bisig, who was a CVP-member of the cantonal government at the time he, (Hegglin) was setting out on his political career, not least because of the serious and discreet way he carried out his duties.

When it came to the question as to which other country he could imagine living in, he said that, as a possible candidate for a seat on the Federal Council, he was not considering living anywhere else but Switzerland.

When he was asked what annoyed him about Switzerland, he said he greatly appreciated its diversity, but the increasing centralisation and polarisation displeased him, along with overcrowding in certain areas.

As to other matters, it was mentioned how much Hegglin was for fiscal competition, feeling that far too much money from wealthier cantons flowed into those not so well off through the National Equalisation Fund. He was very much for an autonomous Switzerland and somewhat more critical of immigration than the other candidates, the journalist concluding that, if Hegglin were elected to the Federal Council, it would mean a move to the Right.

As to child care, he did not feel this was a matter for federal authorities.

On a more light-hearted note, when he was asked what his favourite dish was, he demonstrated his preference for local fayre, namely rudd (fish) in butter sauce with carrots and boiled potatoes followed by cherry cake as a dessert.