Walter Thurnherr, who has held the position as Switzerland’s “eighth cabinet minister” since 2016, will leave the job in December.
Thurnherr, 60, told journalists in Bern on Wednesday that his decision to bow out was not due to any political ill will, but that it was time to move on after decades in the civil service.
Before being named chancellor at the end of 2015, he had been secretary-general of the foreign, economics and environment/transport ministries.
Thurnherr did, however, say that the multiple crises over the past few years – Covid, the war in Ukraine, the Credit Suisse meltdown – meant the 2019-2023 legislative period had been the “worst” for Switzerland since the Second World War.
As head of the Federal Chancellery, Thurnherr is responsible for planning and coordinating government business. While not the equivalent of one of the seven cabinet ministers, he nevertheless takes part in weekly government meetings, where he has an advisory role – but no voting rights.
Thurnherr himself previously said that he “doesn’t see himself as the eighth government minister but rather the first among civil servants […] My power is limited, although I can still exert some influence. I can mediate, direct, coordinate and make proposals”.
Publicly he made a name for himself as a polished and rhetorically talented official, the Keystone-SDA news agency wrote on Wednesday.
His successor will be elected by parliament on December 13, along with a replacement for outgoing minister Alain Berset.