"I'm a farmer, don't have time" Wassen UR elects two new municipal councillors who don't want to
In Wassen UR, two men have been elected to the municipal council even though they did not stand as candidates. One of them, Andreas Baumann-Zurfluh, explains the surprising situation.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- They won the election without wanting to: Felix Baumann-Baumann and Andreas Baumann-Zurfluh were elected to the municipal council of Wassen UR on Sunday.
- Nobody in the village stood for election, but if they are elected, they will have to run for office.
- Baumann-Zurfluh sees his active participation in discussions in the village as the reason for his election.
The mountain village of Wassen in Uri elected two councillors on Sunday. The problem is that nobody from the village wants this position. But in Uri, there is an obligation to hold office. Anyone who is elected must therefore accept the post.
People under the age of 65 who have not yet held political office must accept the election in Uri. Anyone who fails to do so must pay a fine of 5,000 francs.
Two men are now feeling the effects of this. Felix Baumann-Baumann and Andreas Baumann-Zurfluh are now holding office - against their will.
In the first round of voting in September, no one achieved the required number of votes. Now the absolute majority was enough for victory. Felix Baumann-Baumann received 24 votes, while Andreas Baumann-Zurfluh received 13 votes. Municipal president Beat Baumann-Noguiera informed the two of their election by telephone, as reported by the "Bote der Urschweiz " newspaper.
"I didn't want to be on the municipal council"
Andreas Baumann-Zurfluh expressed his surprise at his election: "I didn't want to be on the municipal council at all. I'm a farmer and have to work and don't have time for long meetings," he told "20 Minuten". He doesn't really have time for the office, as he is already on the board of the Uri Farmers' Association, vice commander of the fire department and treasurer of the alpine cooperative. Whether he will accept the office is still unclear and depends on discussions with his family.
Baumann-Zurfluh suspects that his active participation in discussions in the municipality may have contributed to his election. However, he emphasizes that he does not know exactly why he was elected.
The two elected members now have ten days to decide whether or not to accept the office. A rejection is only possible under certain conditions, such as for people over 65 or those who have already served two terms in office.
This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content created by AI is verified by the editorial team.