Ueli Maurer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait in 2022 | |
| President of Switzerland | |
| In office 1 January 2019 – 31 December 2019 | |
| Vice President | Simonetta Sommaruga |
| Preceded by | Alain Berset |
| Succeeded by | Simonetta Sommaruga |
| In office 1 January 2013 – 31 December 2013 | |
| Vice President | Didier Burkhalter |
| Preceded by | Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf |
| Succeeded by | Didier Burkhalter |
| Vice President of Switzerland | |
| In office 1 January 2018 – 31 December 2018 | |
| President | Alain Berset |
| Preceded by | Alain Berset |
| Succeeded by | Simonetta Sommaruga |
| In office 1 January 2012 – 31 December 2012 | |
| President | Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf |
| Preceded by | Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf |
| Succeeded by | Didier Burkhalter |
| Head of theDepartment of Finance | |
| In office 1 January 2016 – 31 December 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf |
| Succeeded by | Karin Keller-Sutter |
| Head of theDepartment of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports | |
| In office 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Schmid |
| Succeeded by | Guy Parmelin |
| Member of the Swiss Federal Council | |
| In office 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Schmid |
| Succeeded by | Albert Rösti |
| Member of theSwiss National Council | |
| In office 25 November 1991 – 31 December 2008 | |
| Parliamentary group | Swiss People's Party |
| Constituency | Zürich |
| Chairman of theSwiss People's Party | |
| In office 27 January 1996 – 1 March 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Hans Uhlmann |
| Succeeded by | Toni Brunner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1950-12-01)1 December 1950 (age 74) Wetzikon,Zürich,Switzerland |
| Political party | Swiss People's Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
| Residence(s) | Hinwil,Zürich |
Ulrich "Ueli"Maurer (Swiss Standard German:[ˈʊlrɪçˈmaʊrər]; born 1 December 1950)[1] is a Swiss politician who served as aMember of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2022. A member of theSwiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he wasPresident of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019. Formerly head of theFederal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (2009–2015), Maurer has headed theFederal Department of Finance from 2016 to 2022. From 2019 to 2022, he was the longest-serving sitting member of the Federal Council.
An accountant by occupation, Maurer chaired the Swiss People's Party from 1996 to 2008.[2] Elected by theSwiss Federal Assembly to succeed Federal CouncillorSamuel Schmid in2008, he took office on 1 January 2009. Maurer served as Vice President of Switzerland for 2012 and 2018 and President of Switzerland for 2013 and 2019.[3] He was reelected to the Federal Council in2011,2015, and2019.
Maurer was born 1 December 1950 inWetzikon, to Ulrich Maurer Sr., a financially destitute farmer, and Annemarie Maurer (née Knecht). His father did not own farmland and was only aleaseholder.[4] He was raised in theZürcher Oberland.[5][6] He completed acommercial apprenticeship, and completed a federal certification inaccounting. Maurer was the only non-academic to serve on the Federal Council until his resignation in 2022.[7]
He was director of the Zürich Farmers' Association from 1994 to 2008 and president of the Swiss Vegetable Farmers' Association and the Farmers' Machinery Association (Maschinenring) until his election to the Federal Council.
Maurer is married and has six children and currently resides inHinwil in thecanton of Zürich. He served in theSwiss Army with the rank ofmajor,[8] commanding abicycle infantry battalion.[9]
From 1978 to 1986, Maurer was a member of the municipal government of Hinwil. He was elected to the cantonal parliament of Zürich in 1983, which he presided over in 1991. In that year, he lost an election to the cantonal government againstMoritz Leuenberger, as his opponents derided Maurer's campaign as inept and himself as a naïve devotee of party strongmanChristoph Blocher.[6] In the same year's national election, though, Maurer was elected to theNational Council.
In 1996, at Blocher's behest,[6] Maurer was elected to the presidency of the Swiss People's Party. Not taken seriously at first[6][10] and parodied by TV comedianViktor Giacobbo as Blocher's servile sycophant[6][11] so memorably that his taunted children regularly returned from school in tears,[11] his presidency saw the party double its voter base, establish itself in theFrench-speaking part of Switzerland and become the country's strongest political party.[5] These successes have been largely credited to Maurer's leadership, who was able to make up a lack of charisma with hard work, the imposition of strict party discipline, a keen sense for promising populist issues (such as opposition toEuropean integration, foreigners and political correctness)[6] as well as a penchant for headline-grabbingsoundbites, as attested by an often-cited statement of his: "As long as I talk ofnegroes, the camera stays on me".[12][13]
As president of the People's Party, Maurer was a leading force behind the party's aggressive and successful populist campaigns – campaigns that drew the ire of the Swiss political mainstream and the concern of foreign observers[14] – signing off on cartoonish posters attacking leftists, foreigners and other undesirables.[12] In a breach with Swiss political etiquette, he did not shy away from direct personal attacks on fellow politicians, labeling the center-rightFree Democrats as "softies",Social Democratic voters as deranged, and renegade Federal Councillors Schmid andEveline Widmer-Schlumpf as "appendices" requiring excision.[11] Nonetheless, Maurer was able to keep his public persona separate from the way his colleagues in Parliament perceived him. In the National Council, his personal stature grew during his service and even political opponents credited his personal integrity, collegial demeanour and solid grasp of political issues.[12] His good professional relations with Social Democratic women representatives were particularly noted by puzzled political observers.[11]
Even as his and his party's star rose, however, relations between Maurer and his longtime mentor Blocher slowly cooled,[11] even though the two men remained strong allies in public. Blocher, used to exercising authoritarian leadership as the party's undisputed leading figure, did not approve of Maurer questioning some of his strategic approaches, and increasingly exercised power through a close-knit circle of followers instead of through Maurer and the party secretariat.[11] In October 2007, after the People's Party won itsgreatest electoral victory to date, Maurer resigned as party president and was succeeded against his wishes[5][11] byToni Brunner, one of Blocher's close confidants, on 1 March 2008.[15] After losing a runoff election for aCouncil of States seat againstVerena Diener,[16] Maurer contented himself with the presidency of the Zürich section of the People's Party.[17]
On 27 November 2008, the party's parliamentary group unanimously nominated both Maurer and Blocher as candidates to succeed Schmid as Federal Councillor.[2] With Blocher – who wasousted from the Federal Council in 2007 – considered unelectable by all other parties,[2] theNeue Zürcher Zeitung and other Swiss media called Maurer the clear frontrunner for the Council seat even before his nomination.[11] On 10 December 2008 Maurerwas elected to the Federal Council in the third round of voting with 122 votes, a margin of a single vote.[18]
Maurer was elected Vice President of Switzerland for 2012, alongside PresidentEveline Widmer-Schlumpf.[19] On 5 December 2012 he was elected President of the Swiss Confederation for 2013.[19][20]
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Maurer wasreelected as federal councillor on 8 December 2015; on 11 December 2015 he was selected to become head of theFederal Department of Finance, with newly-elected federal councillorGuy Parmelin, a fellow member of the SVP/UDC, replacing him as head of theFederal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports.[21][22] As Switzerland's finance minister, Maurer attended the2017 G20 Hamburg summit, becoming the first federal councillor to attend a G20 summit.[23][24][25]
Maurer became President of the Swiss Confederation for a second time for 2019 after serving as vice president underAlain Berset in 2018.[26] On 29 April 2019, during his visit inChina, Maurer signed a Memorandum of Understanding under theBelt and Road Initiative.[27][28] On 16 May 2019, Maurer met PresidentDonald Trump in theWhite House, becoming the first Swiss president to meet a United States president in that location.[29][30] The two discussed several issues, including Iran and a potential free trade agreement.[31][32][33]
On 20 September 2022 Maurer announced his resignation, effective 31 December.[34][35]
On 1 January 2023, Maurer joined the ethics committee of theInternational Olympic Committee.[36]
In February 2024, Maurer criticized "hysteria around Covid" and vaccine mandates, and defended his actions as Federal Councillor during the pandemic.[37]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the Swiss Federal Council 2009–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Head of theDepartment of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports 2009–2016 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Vice President of Switzerland 2012 | Succeeded by |
| President of Switzerland 2013 | ||
| Head of theDepartment of Finance 2016–2022 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Vice President of Switzerland 2018 | Succeeded by |
| President of Switzerland 2019 | ||
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