Switzerland's seven presidents - a good model of governance
By Matheus Pendapala Taapopi
Switzerland doesn’t have a president or prime minister acting as the head of state, nor does it have a head of government. The country is managed by a seven-member council which is considered as a collective head of state. One member of the council is considered the president of the confederation but he is just a primus inter pares, which means “first among equals”, of the seven members of the federal council. He/she acts in that role for a year, and the duty of presidency rotates among the members in order of seniority, then the previous year’s vice-president becomes president. The president of the confederation is not considered the head of state; rather the entire federal council is considered a collective head of state. The president’s main role is to assume special representational duties. He has no powers above the other councilors and continues to head his or her department. For not having any single head of state, the country also carries out no state visits. When traveling abroad, the president does so only as an ordinary minister of a government department. Visiting heads of state are received by the seven members of the federal council together, rather than by the president of the confederation. Treaties are signed on behalf of the full council, with all federal council members signing letters of credence and other documents of the kind.
Like Namibia, Switzerland is a multicultural country with four different ethnic groups: 65% of the population is German; 18% French; 10% Italian; 1% was Romanic; and 6% comprises of various other groups. Equally, about 50% of the Namibian population belongs to the Aawambo tribe and 9% to the Kavango tribe; Herero 7%; Damara 7%; Nama 5%; Caprivian 4%; San 3%; Baster 2% and Tswana 0.5%, with the remainder white speaking English, Afrikaans or German. Given that democracy is unfair against the minority, and that most of our political parties are founded upon ethnic representation principles, the majority wins all democratic elections, but mighty Switzerland adopted a federal model that in fact gives enough power to each ethnic group to manage their local affairs, speak and administrate in their language, and at the top executive level the collective nature of the federal council works well to reinforce the sense of community of destiny. This model has got progressive advantages; first, it embraces ethnic identity and thus integrates and minimises ethnic conflicts in the context a multi-ethnic country. Secondly, the multi heads of state are all equal in opinion and power, making it difficult to take an impulsive decision, minimising the risk of dictatorship. Thirdly, it minimises corruption of leadership in the sense that any top-level decision could not be taken without sound review by the members of the council. Fourthly, as all seven members have to sign top-level decisions to be valid, external pressure on one or two members of the council will not be enough to move a decision ahead. Finally, leadership based on showmanship and cult of personality is severely limited, and the leaders are more focused on delivering results in their departments.
In The Prince, Machiavelli said the weakest form of government for any nation is dictatorship or one-powerful-man at top, because it’s easy to conquer such nations. Once you succeed to cut the head, the whole falls into panic and concedes defeat. On the other hand, the most resilient nations are those with multiple, strong, and independent local princes. Even after the central government of such nations would fall, any conqueror would have to battle all individual princes to win over the country.
In 1976, in China after Mao died, the Chinese Communist Party vowed never to let a single person, whatever his position or charisma, to have so much power to lead to the horrific deeds of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Deng Xiaoping, Mao’s successor, stripped himself of all the powers he got as president, and transferred them to what was called the eight elders, which ultimately would accomplish the most transformational endeavor in human history which lifted more than 800 million people out of abject poverty in China, and reached a level of development that Europe succeeded to accomplish only over 400 years. For the Chinese, the state’s affairs are not a matter of opinion, intuition, impulse, emotion, religion, personal preferences or lineage, but are based on the scientific approach of “seek truth from facts” in political and economic affairs, a good philosophy which Namibians in general and politicians in particular should subscribe to.
This model would give enough power to each ethnic group to be equally represented at the table, to directly manage their local affairs, speak and administrate in their language as this would further uphold, promote, protect and preserve each culture and their traditional principles. I herewith make a challenging proposition to learn, and constructively debate to adopt this model.
*Matheus Pendapala Taapopi is a third-year student studying towards a Bachelor of Public Management at the University of Namibia. He is also a student activist.
Switzerland doesn’t have a president or prime minister acting as the head of state, nor does it have a head of government. The country is managed by a seven-member council which is considered as a collective head of state. One member of the council is considered the president of the confederation but he is just a primus inter pares, which means “first among equals”, of the seven members of the federal council. He/she acts in that role for a year, and the duty of presidency rotates among the members in order of seniority, then the previous year’s vice-president becomes president. The president of the confederation is not considered the head of state; rather the entire federal council is considered a collective head of state. The president’s main role is to assume special representational duties. He has no powers above the other councilors and continues to head his or her department. For not having any single head of state, the country also carries out no state visits. When traveling abroad, the president does so only as an ordinary minister of a government department. Visiting heads of state are received by the seven members of the federal council together, rather than by the president of the confederation. Treaties are signed on behalf of the full council, with all federal council members signing letters of credence and other documents of the kind.
Like Namibia, Switzerland is a multicultural country with four different ethnic groups: 65% of the population is German; 18% French; 10% Italian; 1% was Romanic; and 6% comprises of various other groups. Equally, about 50% of the Namibian population belongs to the Aawambo tribe and 9% to the Kavango tribe; Herero 7%; Damara 7%; Nama 5%; Caprivian 4%; San 3%; Baster 2% and Tswana 0.5%, with the remainder white speaking English, Afrikaans or German. Given that democracy is unfair against the minority, and that most of our political parties are founded upon ethnic representation principles, the majority wins all democratic elections, but mighty Switzerland adopted a federal model that in fact gives enough power to each ethnic group to manage their local affairs, speak and administrate in their language, and at the top executive level the collective nature of the federal council works well to reinforce the sense of community of destiny. This model has got progressive advantages; first, it embraces ethnic identity and thus integrates and minimises ethnic conflicts in the context a multi-ethnic country. Secondly, the multi heads of state are all equal in opinion and power, making it difficult to take an impulsive decision, minimising the risk of dictatorship. Thirdly, it minimises corruption of leadership in the sense that any top-level decision could not be taken without sound review by the members of the council. Fourthly, as all seven members have to sign top-level decisions to be valid, external pressure on one or two members of the council will not be enough to move a decision ahead. Finally, leadership based on showmanship and cult of personality is severely limited, and the leaders are more focused on delivering results in their departments.
In The Prince, Machiavelli said the weakest form of government for any nation is dictatorship or one-powerful-man at top, because it’s easy to conquer such nations. Once you succeed to cut the head, the whole falls into panic and concedes defeat. On the other hand, the most resilient nations are those with multiple, strong, and independent local princes. Even after the central government of such nations would fall, any conqueror would have to battle all individual princes to win over the country.
In 1976, in China after Mao died, the Chinese Communist Party vowed never to let a single person, whatever his position or charisma, to have so much power to lead to the horrific deeds of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Deng Xiaoping, Mao’s successor, stripped himself of all the powers he got as president, and transferred them to what was called the eight elders, which ultimately would accomplish the most transformational endeavor in human history which lifted more than 800 million people out of abject poverty in China, and reached a level of development that Europe succeeded to accomplish only over 400 years. For the Chinese, the state’s affairs are not a matter of opinion, intuition, impulse, emotion, religion, personal preferences or lineage, but are based on the scientific approach of “seek truth from facts” in political and economic affairs, a good philosophy which Namibians in general and politicians in particular should subscribe to.
This model would give enough power to each ethnic group to be equally represented at the table, to directly manage their local affairs, speak and administrate in their language as this would further uphold, promote, protect and preserve each culture and their traditional principles. I herewith make a challenging proposition to learn, and constructively debate to adopt this model.
*Matheus Pendapala Taapopi is a third-year student studying towards a Bachelor of Public Management at the University of Namibia. He is also a student activist.
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