Primarily Paul

First, some background on Switzerland. Unlike the US and most countries, Switzerland does not have a single person as head of state like the US has George Bush, Canada has Stephen Harper, or Mexico has Felipe Calderón. Instead they have a seven person Federal Council that is the head of state and executive branch.

Yes, that’s right, instead of one person being the executive branch, they have seven people simultaneously doing the job. Bosnia and Herzegovina and San Marino also have a multi-person head of state. No single member has more power, they share it equally. However, the logistics of having seven people meet other heads of states would be quite challenging so a president is chosen from the council who servers a term of one year. The president has no more power and simply serves as representative of the entire council. This year it is Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Here is what I wrote her through her contact form:

Switzerland and your position as President recently came up in an interview given by Ron Paul, a physician and Congressman from Texas, running for the nomination of the Republican Party for the United States Presidential election of 2008.

Ron Paul was asked if there are any other country, right now, that do a better job of protecting liberties and maintaining a small government than the United States. Dr. Paul replied there are more and more countries that are encroaching on the US’s reputation for protecting liberties, but Switzerland is the one he thought does a better job than the US. He said it would be neat to be President of Switzerland, then joked that no one in the audience probably knew who the President of Switzerland is :).

The video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCM_wQy4YVg and the part where Switzerland is mentioned starts at around 17:50 and lasts about 45 seconds.

For Reference, Ron Paul is a strict Constitutionalist and a libertarian. He believes in a small fiscally conservative government that stays out of the personal lives of people. He believes the United States should stay out of entangling foreign alliances and the affairs of other countries. “Commerce with all, alliance with none.” Ron Paul’s personal and political philosophies are very much aligned with the politics and culture of Switzerland with your long standing tradition of neutrality and independence from international organizations that take from the sovereignty of their member countries. I think it would be interesting if you and the Federal Council could discuss American libertarianism and Constitutionalism with Ron Paul; our two countries and people have far more in common than people realize given the current administration of the United States.

Be sure to check out Ron Paul’s webpage (http://www.ronpaul2008.com) and watch some of his YouTube videos (http://www.youtube.com/RonPaul2008dotcom).

And her response, bolding is mine:

Thank you for your interesting email about Ron Paul’s interview on YouTube. I felt very pleased to hear that Mr Paul mentioned Switzerland as a good example of a government protecting its people’s freedom and liberties. Our memberships of the UN and other international organizations allow us to participate constructively in global politics, where thanks to its long history of neutrality and independence, Switzerland is able to play a valuable role.

Our bilateral relations with the United States are growing stronger and it is possible that in future visits by myself or of one of my colleagues in the Swiss government to Washington an exchange of views with Congressman Ron Paul will be part of the program.

Best regards,
Micheline Calmy-Rey

She’s the one in the middle. It took about a month for her reply to come through but I am very happy she took the time to respond.

Swiss Federal Council website

President of Switzerland’s website currently Micheline Calmy-Rey

There is a thread about this at Ron Paul Forums too.