Simonetta Sommaruga elected as Swiss President in 2015

Simonetta Sommaruga (Wikipedia photo)

GENEVA — The Swiss parliament on Wednesday elected Simonetta Sommaruga to succeed Didier Burkhalter as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2015, Swiss media RTS reported.

Sommaruga, who is the vice-president in 2014 and head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, won 181 votes out of 210 valid ballots from the election of both houses of the country’s parliament.

Sommaruga, from the Social Democratic Party, will take office on Jan. 1, 2015. She will become Switzerland’s fifth female president.

Born in 1960, Sommaruga was elected as federal councilor in September 2010. She has been head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police since Nov. 1 in the same year.

The Swiss Government (Executive) consists of seven members of the Federal Council. The President of the Swiss Confederation is elected for a one-year term.

The president chairs meetings of the Federal Council and assumes special representational duties.