City of Bern | 25 September 2024
The Bern municipal council is open to expanding the city government from five to seven seats. This is made clear in its response to an urgent inter-party motion.
The Bern municipal council currently consists of five members. In the future, there could be seven again.Photo: Keystone
In his view, there is no single correct size for a government, according to the answer published on Tuesday. Various aspects must be weighed up. The local council does not want to close itself off to the debate and is looking forward to the discussion in the city council.
The debate is scheduled for October 17. If Parliament declares the proposal to be significant, the municipal council will quickly begin work on revising the municipal regulations. The people will have the final say.
The proposal comes from the SP/Juso, GB/JA, AL/PdA, Green Free List and SVP factions. The city is growing, they say. With seven municipal council members, the organization of the departments can be optimized. The workload can also be distributed better.
The Bern municipal council has consisted of five members for 20 years. Previously, there were seven.
In its response to the motion, the municipal council points out that the number of government members varies in other cities. In Zurich there are nine, in Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, Winterthur and Lugano there are seven each. In Lucerne, St. Gallen and Biel there are five.
For purely efficiency and organizational reasons, the local council sees no compelling reason to increase the number of seats. Of course, there are other aspects as well.
