Didier Burkhalter

Didier Burkhalter
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2009
Preceded by	Pascal Couchepin
Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2009
Preceded by	Pascal Couchepin
Personal details
Born	17 April 1960 (1960-04-17) (age 51)
Political party	FDP.The Liberals

Didier Burkhalter (born April 17, 1960 in Neuchâtel) is a Swiss politician of FDP.The Liberals. He is a member of the Swiss Federal Council who was elected on 16 September 2009, and succeeded Pascal Couchepin on 1 November 2009 when he became head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (the Swiss interior minister).

A native of the Canton of Neuchâtel, he was member of the parliament of the Canton of Neuchâtel from 1990 to 2001. From 2003 to 2007, Burkhalter was a member of the Swiss National Council. He has a degree in economics.

On 11 November 2007, he was elected to the Council of States, along with Social Democratic Party (SP) candidate Gisèle Ory, who was re-elected for a second term. Pierre Bonhôte, the other social democratic incumbent, was not re-elected. During the election campaign, Burkhalter was backed by the Liberal Party (PLS) and the SVP/UDC, though the SVP/UDC scarcely endorsed him publicly.

External links

• Profile of Didier Burkhalter with election results on the website of the Swiss Federal Council.

• Biography of Didier Burkhalter on the website of the Swiss Parliament. (French)
• Media related to Didier Burkhalter at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Pascal Couchepin	Member of the Swiss Federal Council 2009–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Burkhalter, Didier
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 April 1960
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death