Christoph Blocher
Encyclopedia
Christoph Blocher in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) is a Swiss politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, industrialist, and former member of the Swiss Federal Council
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
heading the Federal Department of Justice and Police (2004-2007). Currently he is serving as Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of the Swiss People's Party
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
. As an industrialist, he made a fortune in the chemical industry with the EMS-Chemie corporation.
Education
Blocher earned a certificate at the Wülflingen school of agriculture, then studied law at the University of ZürichUniversity of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
, in Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
and in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He has a DEA
DEA (former French degree)
A Master of Advanced Studies is a non-consecutive postgraduate degree awarded predominantly in European countries. A MAS program offers comprehensive training in a specific field and can either give access to higher qualification in one's profession or lead to a new profession...
degree in law, and in 1971, he was awarded a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
.
Political career
Blocher built his political career through campaigning for smaller government, for a free-market economy, against Switzerland's membership in the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and for more tightly controlled immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
. He represented the canton of Zürich
Canton of Zürich
The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...
in the Swiss National Council from 1980 until his election to the federal council in 2003 as a deputy of the Swiss People's Party
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
(Schweizerische Volkspartei/Union démocratique du centre; SVP/UDC). In addition to the Zürich chapter of the Swiss People's Party, he led a mass organisation, the Action for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (Aktion für eine unabhängige und neutrale Schweiz). He has frequently been compared by the media and his political opponents to figures such as Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
and Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...
.
Blocher is leader of the party's nationalist wing, which dominates the party's delegation to the National Council.
2003 election
The People's Party emerged as the largest party in the National Council in the Federal Assembly election of 19 October 2003. Blocher personally topped the poll in ZürichZürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, and became Switzerland's most prominent and controversial politician.
Since 1929, the People's Party (known until 1971 as the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents [BGB]) had held a seat on the seven-member Swiss Federal Council. At the time the current coalition was formed in 1959, the BGB was the smallest party represented on the Council. By 2003, it had become the largest party, and demanded another seat at the expense of the Christian Democrats
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 31 seats, and the largest in the Council of States, with 15 seats. It has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss...
, now the smallest party. The SVP nominated Blocher as its second candidate. This generated a good deal of controversy; previously most SVP councillors came from the party's more moderate centrist-agrarian wing.
After threats of pulling the other People's Party member, Samuel Schmid
Samuel Schmid
Samuel Schmid is a Swiss politician who was a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2000 to 2008. He was the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports .He was elected to the Federal Council on 6 December 2000...
(a member of the centrist wing), off the council and going into opposition, Blocher was elected on 10 December 2003
Swiss Federal Council election, 2003
Elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held on 10 December 2003 to elect all seven of Switzerland's Federal Council. The 246 members of the United Federal Assembly elect the seven members individually by an absolute majority of votes, with the members serving for four years, beginning on 1...
. He took the seat of Ruth Metzler-Arnold, only the third federal councillor in history (and the first since 1872) not to be reelected.
In the third round Blocher beat Metzler with 121 to 116 votes. The election was anticipated as a major media event (NZZ, 8 December 2003), and widely watched as a live broadcast. After Blocher's election, there were spontaneous protests by members of the Swiss political Left (Tages-Anzeiger
Tages-Anzeiger
Tages-Anzeiger, also abbreviated Tagi or TA, is a German language Swiss national daily newspaper based in Zurich. Among newspapers in Switzerland, it has one of the largest readerships, reaching around 550,000 readers. The Tages-Anzeiger was first published in 1893...
, 12 December 2003).
Controversies
As a result of a reshuffling of Federal Council seats, Blocher became head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police.During 2004, Blocher's unconventionally unaccommodating stance towards his fellow federal councillors was the cause for speculations about the future of the Swiss concordance system
Concordance system
In Swiss politics, concordance system refers to the presence of all major parties in the Federal Council, also referred to as the integration of the political opposition into government....
. He was attacked by his colleague Pascal Couchepin
Pascal Couchepin
Pascal Couchepin is a Swiss politician, former member of the Swiss Federal Council and President of the Confederation in 2003 and 2008...
in an interview with the NZZ newspaper in the Sunday 3 October edition. This was unprecedented in Switzerland; members of the Federal Council traditionally do not publicly criticise each other.
The ongoing controversy is also reflected in the scandal resulting from a performance by the artist Thomas Hirschhorn
Thomas Hirschhorn
-Life and works:In the 1980s, Hirschhorn worked in Paris as a graphic artist. He was part of the group of Communist graphic designers called Grapus. These artists were concerned with politics and culture, displaying impromptu creations and posters on the street mostly using the language of...
at the Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 5 December 2004. Hirschhorn, a Swiss, has refused to exhibit anywhere in Switzerland since Blocher's rise to power, and in the performance, which was supported by the publicly funded Pro Helvetia
Pro Helvetia
The foundation Pro Helvetia is a public foundation of Switzerland, held by Confédération Suisse.-Presidents:*From 1939 to 1943, Heinrich Häberlin.*From 1944 to 1952, Paul Lachenal.*From 1952 to 1964, Jean-Rodolphe de Salis....
institution, an actor pretended to urinate on an image of Blocher. The resignation of councillor Joseph Deiss
Joseph Deiss
Joseph Deiss is an economist, Swiss politician and a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party . From 1999 to 2006, he was a member of the Swiss Federal Council, heading first the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and then the Federal Department of Economic Affairs...
in 2006 has been connected in some media reports with the poisoned atmosphere on the council since Blocher's election. This was however not supported by other remaining council members, nor by the then-president, Moritz Leuenberger
Moritz Leuenberger
Moritz Leuenberger is a Swiss politician, lawyer, was a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1995 to 2010 and President of the Confederation in 2001 and in 2006....
.
In a public speech held at his cantonal party's annual Albisgüetlitagung in Zürich on 20 January 2006, Blocher labeled two Albanians seeking political asylum as "criminals", although no judicial sentence had been spoken at the time. Later, when confronted, he claimed before the Swiss Council of States
Swiss Council of States
The Council of States of Switzerland is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors....
that he had only used the word 'accused'. Since the speech had been recorded, he then had to admit that he had used the word "criminals". In July 2006, a commission of the Council of States reprimanded Blocher, stating that the setting of false prejudice and making false statement to the Council of States constituted unacceptable behaviour for a Federal Councillor.
Swiss federal election, 2007
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007...
. On 25 September, the National Council
National Council of Switzerland
The National Council of Switzerland is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. With 200 seats, it is the larger of the two houses....
decided to press a debate of the affair before the elections, overturning a decision by the council's office.
Blocher is still a popular target for the opposition. For example on 18 September 2007, Blocher's appearance at the Comptoir suisse (Swiss fair) in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
was disrupted by protesters.
2007 failed reelection
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is a Swiss lawyer, politician, and member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2008. She is currently the head of the Federal Department of Finance ....
(a moderate SVP member), who accepted the mandate on 13 December 2007.
Blocher thus became the fourth federal councillor to be ousted from office in the history of the Swiss Federal State, following Ruth Metzler
Ruth Metzler
Ruth Metzler-Arnold is a Swiss politician and former member of the Swiss Federal Council .She was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on 11 March 1999, as a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party from the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. During her time in office she has headed the...
whom he had replaced the previous term, besides Ulrich Ochsenbein
Ulrich Ochsenbein
Ulrich Ochsenbein was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council .-Professional life:...
and Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel
Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel
Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council .Challet was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on July 12, 1864 as the first member from the Canton of Geneva. He handed over office on December 31, 1872 after being voted out of office...
in the 19th century.
2008 candidacy
Following the resignation of federal councillor Samuel SchmidSamuel Schmid
Samuel Schmid is a Swiss politician who was a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2000 to 2008. He was the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports .He was elected to the Federal Council on 6 December 2000...
on 12 November 2008, Blocher decided to run for the office again. The People's Party nominated him together with Ueli Maurer
Ueli Maurer
Ueli Maurer is a member of the Swiss Federal Council and head of the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports...
. In view of the 2007 election results, Blocher's chances to be re-elected were thought to be very slim. Not surprisingly, he had no chance of being re-elected and had to make room for his party colleague Ueli Maurer, who won the election in the end.
Future
After the extremely large 2007/2008 losses posted by UBSUBS AG
UBS AG is a Swiss global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland, which provides investment banking, asset management, and wealth management services for private, corporate, and institutional clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland...
, its chairman Marcel Ospel
Marcel Ospel
Marcel Louis Ospel was a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS AG, the largest bank in Switzerland.Marcel Ospel had an income in 2005 of around 24 million CHF....
resigned on 1 April 2008, and Mr. Blocher was rumoured to be considered as his replacement. However the role went to Peter Kurer
Peter Kurer
Peter Kurer is a Swiss manager and lawyer. He was Chairman of UBS AG from April 23, 2008 until his dismissal in 2009. He chaired the Corporate Responsibility Committee and the Strategy Committee of UBS AG.-Education:...
, the bank’s general counsel.