Geneva (AFP) – Swiss President Guy Parmelin announced Friday that he will quit the government at the end of the year, in a sudden move after more than a decade of ministerial service.
Switzerland’s presidency rotates annually among the seven members of the government, called the Federal Council, of which Parmelin, 66, was the longest-serving minister.
Parmelin told a press conference in Bern that he had informed ministerial colleagues of his decision to step down on December 31.
“By then, it will have been 11 years since I was elected to this role, and the time has come for me to make way for new energy in these times of great uncertainty,” he said, admitting to feeling “a certain weariness”, while insisting he was not stepping down for medical reasons.
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I don’t like the idea of forced retirement or anything like that, but I’m happy to see the mention of “new energy”. Older adults have a lot to give, but if we don’t make room for the younger adults to stretch their wings and learn and grow and bring their new ideas, we are doing everyone a disservice.
The problem is that an elected office isn’t a job. It’s a position granted by the people they represent
It’s a position of power and prestige. It does not belong to you like a job does, you have been chosen to represent people. The moment you don’t, or can’t, you no longer qualify for it
So it’s not forced retirement, it’s a measure to align reality closer to the democratic principles that put them in
Personally I think term limits would be a better angle, but right now we need to clean house if we want to move forward as a country
Nobody is talking about forced retirement with respect to this person or politicians though? I only mentioned the idea of forced retirement to contrast the idea of an arbitrary age limit to people making the decision that it’s time for the next gen to fill these roles.
