Swiss President Guy Parmelin has announced that he will step down at the end of 2026. At first glance, this may sound like a familiar political story: the head of state is leaving office and a successor will need to be chosen. In Switzerland, however, the meaning is quite different from what many international residents may be used to.

The Swiss president is not the country’s sole head of state, does not lead the government in the conventional sense and holds the presidency for just one year. At the same time, the person serving as president can remain a member of the government for many years.

Parmelin has been a member of the Federal Council since 2016 and has served as president twice, in 2021 and 2026. His departure means that he is leaving not only the presidency, which would in any case end on 31 December, but the Federal Council itself.

To understand why this does not amount to a change of government, it helps to look at how Switzerland’s political system actually works.

A country run by seven people

Executive power in Switzerland belongs to the Federal Council, a seven-member government. Each Federal Councillor heads one of the country’s seven federal departments, broadly comparable to ministries in other countries.

The most important government decisions, however, are made collectively.

Each year, one of the seven Federal Councillors becomes President of the Swiss Confederation. The president is often described as “first among equals”: they chair Federal Council meetings, represent Switzerland at official events and carry out diplomatic duties, but they do not have authority over the other six members of the government.

Switzerland has no separate prime minister. Nor does it have a president with the kind of executive powers found in many presidential or semi-presidential systems. The role of head of state is exercised collectively by the Federal Council.

That does not mean the Swiss president is purely ceremonial. The president coordinates the government’s work, helps manage disagreements between colleagues and has certain additional powers in exceptional circumstances. If the Federal Council is unable to meet, the president may, under defined conditions, take an urgent decision independently.

During the presidential year, the president also continues to head their own department. In 2026, for example, Guy Parmelin is both president and head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.

The presidency is therefore an additional responsibility held by one of the seven members of government, not a separate office above them.

Why is the president elected for only one year?

Swiss voters do not elect the president directly. The decision is made by the Federal Assembly, Switzerland’s parliament, which consists of two chambers: the National Council and the Council of States. Together they have 246 members.

Every December, parliament elects a president and vice-president from among the seven members of the Federal Council. The new president takes office on 1 January.

In practice, the presidency usually rotates from one Federal Councillor to another. Most often, the previous year’s vice-president becomes president, although the final decision formally belongs to parliament.

A Federal Councillor can serve as president more than once, but the Constitution does not allow the same person to hold the presidency for two consecutive years.

Federal Councillors themselves are elected for four-year terms and can be re-elected indefinitely. A change of president therefore does not normally mean a change in the composition of the government.

Another distinctive feature of the Swiss system is that Federal Councillors generally decide for themselves when to resign. Parliament can choose not to re-elect a member at the end of a four-year term, but Switzerland has no ordinary mechanism for removing the government early through a vote of no confidence, as exists in many parliamentary systems.

As a result, Federal Councillors often remain in office for many years, serving through several parliamentary terms and taking turns in the presidency.

Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation in 2021 and 2026. Photo: Swiss Federal Chancellery / Wikimedia Commons.

How can politicians who disagree with each other run a government together?

The Federal Council includes representatives of different political parties, often with sharply different views. They may disagree on migration, social spending, relations with the European Union or economic policy.

But the Swiss system is not built around one party or coalition forming a government while the others automatically become the opposition.

Since 1959, the distribution of seats in the Federal Council has largely followed a political tradition known as the “magic formula”. Today, the seven seats are shared among four parties: the Swiss People’s Party, the Social Democratic Party and FDP.The Liberals each hold two seats, while The Centre holds one.

This arrangement is not written into the Constitution. It developed as a political compromise and has changed over time.

So how does a government work when its members may fundamentally disagree?

The answer lies in the principle of collegiality. The Federal Council seeks consensus, but when agreement cannot be reached, a decision can be taken by majority vote. Once that decision has been made, all seven members are expected to represent it publicly as the position of the government, even if they personally voted against it.

Imagine, for example, that the Federal Council is discussing new migration rules. One Federal Councillor believes the proposed restrictions go too far, while another wants stricter measures. After discussion, the government reaches a collective decision.

The Federal Councillor whose position did not prevail remains in office and is expected to defend the Federal Council’s decision publicly. That does not mean their personal political views have changed. It is how collective responsibility works within the Swiss government.

In practice, disagreements between Federal Councillors do occur, and political parties may criticise government decisions even when their own representatives sit on the Federal Council. Collegiality does not eliminate political differences; it sets the rules for working together despite them.

This is one reason the Swiss government can maintain a relatively stable composition even when political disagreements are substantial.

Why don’t Swiss voters elect the government directly?

The roots of the system go back to 1848, when Switzerland adopted a new Constitution after a brief civil war and became a modern federal state.

The new political structure had to accommodate cantons with different religions, languages, economic interests and political traditions. A collective government became part of that federal compromise.

Switzerland has retained the seven-member Federal Council ever since, although the rules governing it and the political balance within the government have evolved.

The idea of electing the Federal Council directly by popular vote has nevertheless returned to the political agenda several times.

In 1900, 1942 and 2013, Swiss voters decided on proposals that would have transferred the election of the Federal Council from parliament to the electorate.

All three were rejected.

In the most recent vote, held on 9 June 2013, only 23.7% of participating voters supported the proposal. The large majority voted against it.

This does not mean that every Swiss voter is satisfied with the current system, or that debate over government reform has ended. But attempts to introduce direct popular election of the Federal Council have so far failed to win majority support.

The Federal Palace in Bern, home to Switzerland’s parliament and federal government. Photo: Parliamentary Services of the Swiss Federal Assembly / parlament.ch. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

What does Guy Parmelin’s resignation actually mean?

Guy Parmelin joined the Federal Council in 2016 as a representative of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP). Before his political career, he worked as a winegrower in the canton of Vaud.

He initially headed the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport. Since 2019, he has led the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.

Parmelin first served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2021. Parliament elected him to the presidency again for 2026.

On 2 October 2026, he announced that he would leave the Federal Council on 31 December, bringing his eleven years in the federal government to an end.

After his departure, parliament will elect a new member of the Federal Council. Under the current political convention, the seat is expected to remain with the Swiss People’s Party, although parliament is not legally required to elect a candidate from that party.

The other six Federal Councillors will remain in office. The newly elected member will join Switzerland’s collective executive, and the Federal Council will decide how the seven departments are distributed among its members.

Separately, parliament will elect the president for 2027. That election would have taken place regardless of whether Parmelin had decided to leave the Federal Council.

The Swiss political system separates the annual change of presidency from changes in the composition of the government. A presidential term ends after one year, while a Federal Councillor may remain in office for much longer.

That is why the resignation of a Swiss president does not automatically bring the entire government’s mandate to an end. Next year, Switzerland will still be governed by seven Federal Councillors – with a new president among them.

Sources

• Swiss Federal Council – Role of the Presidency
• Swiss Federal Council – Term of Office and Departure
• Swiss Federal Council – Tasks and the Principle of Collegiality
• Swissvotes – History of Federal Votes on the Direct Election of the Federal Council
• Reuters, 2 October 2026 – Guy Parmelin to Leave the Federal Council at the End of 2026
• Cover image: Official portrait of the Swiss Federal Council, 2026. Photo: Nathan Bugniet, Eileen Fraefel, Samantha Keller, Léo Margueron / Swiss Federal Chancellery. Source: Wikimedia Commons