Alain Berset elected as 2023 Swiss president

Interior Minister Alain Berset will take on the rotating role of Swiss president next year, parliament has decided.

As expected, current vice-president Berset was selected from the seven-member executive body to start his second term as president from January 1. He previously held the post in 2018, Swissinfo.ch reported on December 7.

The Swiss presidency changes hands every year and passes between government ministers, who also continue with their ministerial duties.

This year, for example, Ignazio Cassis is both president and foreign minister. The system is designed to ensure that no single person can concentrate too much individual power in their own hands.

Besides chairing government meetings and giving speeches on important occasions, such as the August 1 Swiss National Day, the president has an international diplomatic function.

The Swiss president also meets visiting foreign heads of state and dignitaries when they come to Switzerland on official business.

Parliament was less certain about whom to choose as 2023 president than in previous years. Berset received 140 votes, well below the 190 parliamentarians who endorsed him for the role in 2018.

Earlier on December 7 parliament voted in two new ministers to the Federal Council from the start of 2023. They will replace the outgoing Ueli Maurer and Simonetta Sommaruga.