Swiss Government to Lose Longest-Serving Minister at Year End

(Bloomberg) -- Swiss Interior Minister Alain Berset said he will exit the government in December, when his one-year rotating presidency ends.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Titanic Sub Search Chases Mystery Noises as Air Runs Low

• Modi Meets With Elon Musk and Ray Dalio as Global Money Flocks to India

• China Says Biden Calling Xi a Dictator Is ‘Provocation’

• Modi’s Yoga Mastery Shows Indian Democracy Is Just a Pose

• Short Bets on US Stocks Hit $1 Trillion, Most Since April 2022

“After 20 intense years in federal politics, 12 of them in the Federal Council, and after dealing with the Covid crisis, the right moment for this step has come,” Berset said on Twitter on Wednesday. In a press conference in Bern he clarified that his departure shouldn’t be seen as a resignation, but simply as him leaving at the regular end of his term.

His exit will coincide with the start of a new legislative after October elections, which in turn means the executive — which Berset has been part of since 2012 — also starts a new term.

As interior minister, the 51-year-old Social Democrat navigated Switzerland through the Covid pandemic. A French-speaker born in Fribourg, he’s the longest serving member of government. He currently is also is Swiss president — an office that rotates every year and which Berset already held in 2018.

Switzerland’s executive isn’t made up of a coalition or an outright majority, but of seven ministers from the country’s four largest parties. Swiss government decisions are usually made by consensus, often also outside of party lines.

The Social Democrats are expected to retain the seat. Berset on Wednesday didn’t want to comment on who might succeed him.

His presidency this year was overshadowed by the so-called Covid-leaks probe, after his former press chief allegedly passed on confidential government information to the country’s biggest tabloid newspaper.

It’s the second resignation Berset’s party has had to handle in less than 12 months after long-serving minister Simonetta Sommaruga stepped down last November.

--With assistance from Paula Doenecke.

(Updates with Berset comment in second paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• Final Fantasy XVI Shows Off Square Enix’s Skill at Reinvention

• Nissan Takes the Long, Costly Road to Reusing EV Batteries

• What the Reddit Revolt Means for Social Media in an AI Era

• How Many People Does It Take for the Government to Send a Text?

• It’s Brutal to Get to the Ocean’s Depths. This Minisub Will Take You There

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.