The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Just over half of Swiss population satisfied with government

The seven swiss government ministers meeting in wood-panelled cabinet room
Ministers getting down to work, January 2023. Keystone / Peter Schneider

Defence Minister Viola Amherd and Interior Minister Alain Berset are the most highly-regarded members of the seven-member Federal Council, according to a survey.

Amherd tops the public’s esteem ranking with a score of 4.17/6, while Berset follows closely with 4.15/6, the Tamedia group and 20 Minuten newspaper wrote on Monday.

Albert Rösti, who took over the environment, energy and transport portfolio at the beginning of the year, is third with 4.02.

The other four members are Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (3.89), Economics Minister Guy Parmelin (3.77), Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (3.57) and Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (3.42).

+ Read more: the merry-go-round of allocating ministerial portfolios

The survey of over 25,000 people also found that public satisfaction with Swiss politicians has fallen slightly compared to February this year.

Satisfaction with the work of parliament dropped two percentage points to 48%, while the figure for the government fell one percentage point to 54%.

The seven-member Swiss executive is a consensus-based institution which allocates seats according to the traditional strengths of the country’s four biggest political parties.

+ How Switzerland’s government works, and how ministers are chosen

Its members are not elected by the public but are endorsed by parliamentarians following general elections every four years.

The next such renewal of ministers will take place in December this year, following elections in October.

PLACEHOLDER

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

Only one in five people attend a religious service at Easter

More

Just one in five Swiss attend a religious service at Easter

This content was published on Only one in five people in Switzerland attend a religious service during the Easter period or give up meat or alcohol for at least one day of fasting. Around 25% of those polled see Easter primarily as a family holiday, according to the survey.

Read more: Just one in five Swiss attend a religious service at Easter
Posters condemning Stephan Schmidheiny's role in asbestos deaths in Italy.

More

Swiss businessman gets prison term for asbestos deaths

This content was published on Stephan Schmidheiny has been sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison by the Turin Court of Appeal in a case against the former Eternit executive over deaths linked to asbestos exposure in Italy.

Read more: Swiss businessman gets prison term for asbestos deaths
Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter

More

Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter

This content was published on Swiss imports and exports reached new heights in the first quarter, driven by the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. Shipments to the US rose sharply.

Read more: Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR