Federal Chancellery of Switzerland Vice-Chancellorship conferred to Corina Casanova (no relationship to Achille Casanova), the three key roles in the Federal Chancellery were held by Swiss Germans. Remarkably enough, though, when Corinna Casanova was elected Federal Chancellor three years later, the nomination of Thomas Helbling as her successor, another Swiss German, raised no such public criticism. At the time, the "Tages-Anzeiger" speculated that this might be due to the Latin cantons aiming for the post of Oswald Sigg, due to retire a bit later. Whether founded or not, the appointment of André Simonazzi in 2009 did indeed restore the language balance. Federal Chancellery of
2008 Swiss Federal Council election in favor of Ueli Maurer. Green Party candidate Luc Recordon, who did not receive more than ten votes in the first round, declared that he would "suspend" his candidacy. Ueli Maurer was elected Federal Councillor on the third ballot, receiving exactly the 122 votes required. Source: 2008 Swiss Federal Council election On 10 December 2008, the Swiss Federal Assembly elected Ueli Maurer as successor to Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid. Schmid resigned on 12 November 2008 after a number of controversies, officially citing health and personal reasons. Maurer took office on 1 January 2009. The Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), Switzerland's largest