President of the Swiss Confederation

President of the Swiss Confederation Bundespräsident(in)  (German) Président(e) de la Confédération  (French) Presidente della Confederazione  (Italian) President(a) da la Confederaziun  (Romansh)
Incumbent Guy Parmelin since 1 January 2026
Status	Presiding member
Member of	Federal Council
Appointer	Federal Assembly
Term length	Unlimited non-consecutive one-year terms
Inaugural holder	Jonas Furrer
Formation	21 November 1848; 177 years ago (1848-11-21)
Deputy	Vice President
Salary	CHF 445,163 annually
Website	Federal Presidency

The President of the Swiss Confederation is the chair of the Federal Council of Switzerland and is the first amongst equals of councillors of the executive branch of the Swiss government.

Role

Under the Swiss constitution of 1999, the Federal Council is the "highest executive authority". Although the president of the confederation has some extra duties to represent Switzerland, he is not the head of state.

All decisions are that a head of state would make are decided by a meeting of the Federal Council. For example, treaties are signed on behalf of the Federal Council, and all members of the federal council sign the "letters of credence" to introduce ambassadors sent by Switzerland to a foreign country. All ambassadors sent by a foreign country to Switzerland meet all of the members of the Federal Council, not just the President.

The President of the Confederation is sometimes called the "primus inter pares" (first equal) in the Federal Council.

Only three other countries in the world do not have one person as a head of state, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andorra and San Marino.

List of presidents of the Swiss Confederation

• 
  Jonas Furrer was the first president of the Swiss Confederation (1848–1849).
• 
  Jakob Stämpfli, who was in charge over the Federal Council in 1856, was just 35 years old, the youngest to date.
• 
  Karl Schenk, as the longest-serving member of the Federal Council, was president of the Confederation six times, a number only equaled by Emil Welti.
• 
  Wilhelm Hertenstein died during his term, on 27 November 1888. As of 2026, he is the only president not to complete his term.
• 
  Ruth Dreifuss, who presided over the Federal Council in 1999, was the first woman to serve as president.
• 
  Guy Parmelin, 178th and current president of the Confederation.

References