Micheline Calmy-Rey

Micheline Calmy-Rey
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
In office 1 January 2003 – 31 December 2011
Preceded by	Ruth Dreifuss
Succeeded by	Alain Berset
President of Switzerland
In office 1 January 2011 – 31 December 2011
Vice President	Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
Preceded by	Doris Leuthard
Succeeded by	Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
In office 1 January 2007 – 31 December 2007
Vice President	Pascal Couchepin
Preceded by	Moritz Leuenberger
Succeeded by	Pascal Couchepin
Vice President of Switzerland
In office 1 November 2010 – 31 December 2010
President	Doris Leuthard
Preceded by	Moritz Leuenberger
Succeeded by	Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
In office 1 January 2006 – 31 December 2006
President	Moritz Leuenberger
Preceded by	Moritz Leuenberger
Succeeded by	Pascal Couchepin
Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 January 2003 – 31 December 2011
Preceded by	Joseph Deiss
Succeeded by	Didier Burkhalter
Personal details
Born	(1945-07-08) 8 July 1945 Sion, Switzerland
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	André Calmy
Alma mater	Graduate Institute of International Studies

Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey (born 8 July 1945) is a Swiss politician. She was Switzerland's foreign minister as head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. She was also a member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2003, and was President of the Confederation in 2007 and again in 2011. She resigned her office as member of the Federal Council on 31 December 2011.

Early life and education

Calmy-Rey was born in Sion in the canton of Valais on 8 July 1945 to Charles and Adeline Rey. She received her diploma in 1963 in St. Maurice, and received a Licence degree in political science at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, in 1968. In 1966, she married André Calmy. They have two children.

Career

From 1981 to 1997 Calmy-Rey served as a representative in the Grand Conseil of the canton of Geneva as a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSS/SPS), and was president of the assembly during 1992-1993. She was president of the Geneva section of the party from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1997. In 1997, Calmy-Rey was elected to the Conseil d'Etat of Geneva. In 2001, she became head of the Finance Department and president of the Conseil d'Etat.

She was elected on 4 December 2002 to the Federal Council, heading the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Calmy-Rey is the fourth woman elected to the Federal Council in history. On 7 December 2005 she was elected Vice-President of Switzerland, a post she held for the calendar year of 2006.

Calmy-Rey supports Switzerland joining the European Union and she is an Eminent Member of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.

Presidency

On 1 January 2007, she became the second female President of the Confederation in history, the first having been her predecessor on the Federal Council, Ruth Dreifuss. She was elected as President on 13 December 2006 by 147 votes. However, by Swiss tradition, it was a foregone conclusion she would be elected. She had been the longest-serving councillor not to have been President, and had served as Vice-President for 2006.

As President of the Confederation, she presided over meetings of the Federal Council and carried out certain representative functions that would normally be handled by a head of state in other democracies, (though in Switzerland, the Federal Council as a whole is regarded as the head of state). She was also the highest-ranking official in the Swiss order of precedence, and had the power to act on behalf of the whole Council in emergency situations. However, in most cases she was merely prima inter pares, with no power above and beyond her six colleagues.

She had already handled most official visits abroad since being elected to the Federal Council; the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs traditionally carries out such visits.

Calmy-Rey was chosen as vice president for 2010, serving alongside Doris Leuthard. On 8 December 2010, she was chosen, for the second time, as President for 2011 (by 106 votes on 189, i.e. the worst result in Swiss history on such issues) --the first time two women will have held the post in succession.

Calmy-Rey speaks to United States President Barack Obama, along with Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers.

Calmy-Rey is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

She announced in September 2011 that she would resign from the government in the following December.^[1]

Gas controversy and trade relations with Iran

Calmy-Rey was widely criticised for putting on a headscarf to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on 19 March 2008.^[2] Her appearance together with the Iranian leader sparked immediate negative reactions: Socialist MP Maria Roth-Bernasconi said it was "irritating that she had angered feminists in Iran." Calmy-Rey said in her defence that she was "observing protocol."^[3]

Calmy-Rey also prompted controversy by attending the signing of a multi-billion dollar natural gas deal of a Swiss energy supply company with Iran.^[4] The United States had complained that Switzerland was sending the wrong message when Tehran was subject to UN sanctions. Calmy-Rey pointed out that gas exports were not subject to the UN sanctions. Both the Israeli government and international Jewish groups such as the World Jewish Congress strongly criticised the deal.^[5]

References

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article and the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article (retrieved 1 April 2006).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Micheline Calmy-Rey.

• Official website
• Profile of Micheline Calmy-Rey with election results on the website of the Swiss Federal Council.

• Micheline Calmy-Rey in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

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