This week, Switzerland’s government chose who would succeed Viola Amherd, the outgoing head of defence, in its seven-member executive team, known as the Federal Council. On Wednesday 12 March 2025, Switzerland’s two chambers voted in favour of Centre Party member Martin Pfister.
Martin Pfister, a state councillor in the canton of Zug, received 134 votes versus the 110 votes cast in favour of Markus Ritter, a state councillor from the canton of St Gallen.
In mid-January, Viola Amherd, Switzerland’s army and defence minister, announced her resignation from the Federal Council, effective from the end of March. The 62-year-old politician from the Centre Party has been a Federal Councillor since 2019.
Pfister has never held a position in federal government. Much of his political career has been at a cantonal level, where he is the minister of health for the canton of Zug. A member of the Centre Party, he is from the same party as Viola Amherd. Swiss political convention requires outgoing ministers to be replaced with someone from the same party. This ensures that political party balance is maintained in the Federal Council in line with a phenomenon known as the magic formula.
The 61 year old Pfister, who is a historian by profession, has been a colonel in Switzerland’s army and a school teacher. Born in St. Gallen, he grew up in Zug and graduated with a degree in history and German from the University of Fribourg.
Married with four children he likes jogging, hiking, reading and exploring culture. In an interview with RTS, Pfister described his family as a patchwork, a nod to his Brazilian-born wife and the internationalism this has brought to his family life. At 1 metre 90 cm (6 feet and 3 inches) he is also quite tall.
Amherd leaves behind a defence department in crisis. At the end of Februrary 2025, the public learned that the heads of both the Swiss military and federal intelligence agencies had resigned. In addition, the military is struggling to recruit sufficient personnel and a report published late last year revealed widespread discrimination and abuse.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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