Doris Leuthard

Doris Leuthard
Vice President of Switzerland
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 January 2016
President	Johann Schneider-Ammann
Preceded by	Johann Schneider-Ammann
In office 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2009
President	Hans-Rudolf Merz
Preceded by	Hans-Rudolf Merz
Succeeded by	Moritz Leuenberger
Head of the Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2010
Preceded by	Moritz Leuenberger
President of Switzerland
In office 1 January 2010 – 31 December 2010
Vice President	Moritz Leuenberger Micheline Calmy-Rey
Preceded by	Hans-Rudolf Merz
Succeeded by	Micheline Calmy-Rey
Head of the Department of Economic Affairs
In office 1 August 2006 – 31 October 2010
Preceded by	Joseph Deiss
Succeeded by	Johann Schneider-Ammann
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 August 2006
Preceded by	Joseph Deiss
Personal details
Born	10 April 1963 Merenschwand, Switzerland
Political party	Christian Democratic People's Party
Spouse(s)	Roland Hausin
Alma mater	University of Zurich
Religion	Roman Catholic

Doris Leuthard (born 10 April 1963 in Merenschwand, Aargau) is a Swiss politician and lawyer. Since 1 August 2006, she has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council. From 1 August 2006 till 31 October 2010 she was head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (the Swiss commerce minister). Since 1 November 2010 she is head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. She was elected President of the Confederation for 2010.^[1]

Leuthard was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1999 to 2006 and President of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) (2004–2006).

Following the resignation of Joseph Deiss from the Swiss Federal Council, Leuthard was elected as his successor on 14 June 2006. She received 133 out of 234 valid votes, and became the 109th member (and fifth woman) of the Federal Council. Her election represented a departure from a long precedent of replacing a member of the Federal Council with someone from the same language group. While Deiss was a French speaker, Leuthard is a German speaker.

For the calendar year 2009, Leuthard was elected Vice President of the Swiss Confederation, virtually assuring her election as president for the calendar year 2010. Due to a large amount of turnover on the Council in recent years, she was the longest-serving councilor not to have served as president. She was the third woman to hold the post, after Ruth Dreifuss (1999) and Micheline Calmy-Rey (2007).^[2]

As President of the Confederation, Leuthard presided over meetings of the Federal Council and carried out representative functions that would normally be handled by a head of state in other democracies (though in Switzerland, the Federal Council as a whole is regarded as the head of state). She was also the highest-ranking official in the Swiss order of precedence, and had the power to act on behalf of the whole Council in emergency situations. However, in most cases, Leuthard was merely primus inter pares, with no power above and beyond her six colleagues. She was succeeded by Calmy-Rey in 2011, the first time two women had held the office in succession.

Following a reshuffle of portfolios after the by-election of two new councilors in 2010, Leuthard replaced outgoing Moritz Leuenberger at the head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications.^[3]

The project SAFFA 2020 is under the patronage of the three federal councillors (Bundesrat) Doris Leuthard, Simonetta Sommaruga and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf as well as by the former councillor (aBR) Micheline Calmy-Rey.^[4]

See also

• Swiss Federal Council elections of 14 June 2006
• List of current Vice Presidents

References

1. "Doris Leuthard neue Bundespräsidentin". Retrieved 2009-12-02.
2. Skard, Torild (2014) "Ruth Dreifuss, Micheline Calmy-Rey and Doris Leuthard" in Women of power - half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press ISBN 978-1-44731-578-0, pp. 404-7
3. "Leuthard au DETEC, Widmer-Schlumpf aux finances". TSR Télévision Suisse Romande. SRG SSR. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
4. "Patronat" (in German). 2020.ch. Retrieved 2014-12-02.

External links

Media related to Doris Leuthard at Wikimedia Commons

• Profile of Doris Leuthard with election results on the website of the Swiss Federal Council.

• Biography of Doris Leuthard on the website of the Swiss Parliament. (German)
• Address by Doris Leuthard (as President of Switzerland) at the General Debate of the 65th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, 23 September 2010: video (in French); written translation of the statement into English
• Andreas Steigmeier: Doris Leuthard in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2006-09-26.