Justice Minister Metzler
Justice and Police Minister Ruth Metzler was re-elected to the cabinet by a joint session of parliament on Wednesday.
Justice and Police Minister Ruth Metzler was re-elected to the cabinet by a joint session of parliament on Wednesday.
She was confirmed with 144 votes in the 245-seat parliament.
The vote is part of a traditional re-election procedure, which follows parliamentary elections. Those were held in October and showed the right-wing Swiss People's Party gaining the most seats in the House of Representatives.
Brief profile:
Ruth Metzler: Elected to cabinet in March 1999. Christian Democrat serving as Justice and Police Minister. She is the youngest and by far most popular cabinet member. She faced a real political challenge over the massive influx of Kosovar refugees: She called for emergency measures and caused a storm of criticism from left-of-centre politicians and refugee lobby groups. She is seen as a supporter of free-market ideas, but has shown her social conscience regularly – for instance when she came out against raising the retirement age by one year to 66.
From staff and wire reports.
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