The candidates for her post announced by their respective cantonal sections are Alain Berset (Fribourg), Pierre-Yves Maillard (Vaud), Stéphane Rossini (Valais), and Marina Carobbio (Ticino).
Jean Studer, Liliane Maury Pasquier and Elisabeth Baume-Schneider declined to stand in the election.
[4] Apart from Calmy-Rey's successor, the controversial aspects of the election included, whether the SVP would hold their seat or gain another, which they had lost after one of their incumbents defected to the BDP; and whether the CVP or the FDP would gain the second seat held by the FDP, which both lay claim to.
The SVP's possible candidates are Heinz Tännler (Zug), Bruno Zuppiger (Zürich), Jakob Stark (Thurgau), Guy Parmelin (Vaud) and Hannes Germann (Schaffhausen).
His re-election was supported by all parliamentary groups except that of SVP A vacant seat was to be filled following the retirement of Micheline Calmy-Rey (SPS).