BERN - Guy Parmelin is leaving the Federal Council. The economics minister and this year's president announced on Friday that he will step down on 31 December, eleven years after his election to the seven-member cabinet and days after the close of his second presidential year.
"By then it will have been 11 years since I was elected to this role, and the time has come for me to make way for new energy in these times of great uncertainty," Parmelin said. He admitted to "a certain weariness" but insisted the decision was not about his health, a subject of rumour for months. "Nobody is irreplaceable," he added, promising to work until 31 December, "23:59 at the latest".
A wine grower in the economics department
Parmelin, a wine grower from Bursins in the canton of Vaud who turns 67 next month, was elected in December 2015 as a member of the Swiss People's Party. He ran the defence department from 2016 and took over the economics ministry in 2019. His tenure was defined by the pandemic years, the Credit Suisse rescue, and an unusually direct role in trade: he travelled to Washington three times in the tariff dispute with the United States and counts the free-trade agreements with India and Mercosur among his successes.
The timing still surprised the Bundeshaus. Parmelin had repeatedly said he intended to stay until the end of the legislature in autumn 2027, provided his health allowed. On Friday he said there was no perfect moment, but that several major files were finished or on a good path. The EU package cleared the Senate only a day earlier, and the Mercosur deal he championed was revived two weeks ago.
What happens now
Under the informal magic formula that distributes the seven seats among the largest parties, Parmelin's replacement will come from the SVP. Candidates have until 23 October to come forward, the party names its official ticket on 20 November, and the United Federal Assembly elects the new minister on 9 December. The early manoeuvring is already under way; our succession report maps the names in play.