Swiss President Alain Berset announced on Wednesday he will not seek a new term after the current legislative session ends in October. Berset, a 51-year-old, joined the Swiss Federal Council at the start of 2012 from the Social Democratic Party.
"It is not a resignation, but it is an announcement that I will not run again... If you stayed longer than 12 years that would be too long, then you would consider yourself irreplaceable. The institutions are more important than the people," Berset told reporters in Bern.
Instead of electing a single president, Switzerland is led by the federal cabinet whose seven members serve as the collective head of state and the government. The president chairs the council without exercising a particular authority.
