Alex Kuprecht

Alex Kuprecht is a Swiss politician from the Canton of Zürich. He is a member of the Swiss People's Party and has served in the Council of States since 2003. For the 2019-20 legislative term, he serves as the First Vice President of the Council of States.

Alex Kuprecht
First Vice President of the Council of States
Assumed office
2 December 2019
Preceded byHans Stöckli
Member of the Council of States
Assumed office
19 October 2003
ConstituencySchwyz
Personal details
Born (1957-12-22) 22 December 1957
Richterswil, Switzerland
Political partySwiss People's Party
ProfessionInsurance agent

Biography

Kuprecht was born in 1957 in the town of Richterswil, which is in the Horgen District of the Canton of Zürich. He spent most of his early career in the insurance business. He was a sales agent and managed an agency in Lachen. In 2011, he was hired as a relationship manager for Basler Versicherungen, a subsidiary of the Swiss insurer Bâloise, a role that Swiss media has characterized as a lobbyist for the insurance industry.[1][2]

Kuprecht was elected in 1990 to the Grand Council of Schwyz and served until his election to the Council of States in 2003. On the Grand Council, he was a member of the parliamentary group on housing and real estate as well as the parliamentary group on the textile industry.[3]

Since his election to the National Council, Kuprecht has served on the State Political Committee, the Security Committee and the Commission for Social Security and Health. He was the president of the Social Security and Health Committee from 2009 to 2011 and the president of the Security Committee from 2013 to 2015. He was the president of the delegation for relations with Liechtenstein and the delegation for relations with Austria.[3]

Since his election in 2003, Kuprecht has had little difficulty winning re-election, drawing an absolute majority in the first round of elections in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.[4][5][6][7] In announcing his candidacy for the 2019 Swiss federal election, Kuprecht said that the 2019 election would be his last.[8]

In 2012, Kuprecht initially won an election as one of the vice presidents of the party's parliamentary group by two votes over Natalie Rickli. After some members including Christoph Blocher, one of the party's leaders, called for a re-vote, Kuprecht stepped down and allowed for a new vote in which Rickli was elected.[9][10] In the 2018-2019 session, Kuprecht was name a Second Vice President of the Council of States. As with tradition, for the 2019-2020 session, he was elected as the First Vice President.[11]

Kuprecht is part of the pro-business wing of the Swiss People's Party. In 2011, he expressed opposition to anti-immigration initiatives that others in the SVP supported. Kuprecht cited concerns that the "Masseneinwanderung stoppen" initiative could jeopardize Switzerland's treaties with the European Union.[12] As a lobbyist for an insurance company, he has been criticized for his influence in passing health and social legislation through his committee.[13][14] In 2020, Kuprecht expressed opposition to a proposal to send Swiss soldiers to Afghanistan to protect a detachment of Swiss development workers in the country.[15]


References
  1. "Bâloise engagiert SVP-Ständerat als Lobbyist" (in German). FinNews.ch. 2010-11-12.
  2. "Der Befangenenchor". Beobachter (in German). 2012-11-20.
  3. "Official Profile of Alex Kuprecht". Parliament of Switzerland. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  4. "Wahlen 2015 - Ständerat - Schlussergebnis" (in German). Canton of Schwyz. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  5. "Wahlen 2007 - Ständerat" (in German). Canton of Schwyz. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  6. "Wahlen 2011 - Ständerat" (in German). Canton of Schwyz. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  7. "Ständeratswahlen vom 20. Oktober 2019" (in German). Canton of Schwyz. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  8. "Schwyzer Ständerat Alex Kuprecht tritt nochmals an – zum letzten Mal". Luzerner Zeitung (in German). 2018-11-05.
  9. "Rickli-Nichtwahl war gewollt". Schweiz am Wochenende (in German). 2012-01-28.
  10. "Natalie Rickli: Meine Kritiker haben kein Füdli!". Blick (in German). 2012-01-30.
  11. "Chronologie Der Präsidentinnen Und Präsidenten Sowie Den Vizepräsidentinnen Und -präsidenten Des Ständerates" (in German). Parliament of Switzerland. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  12. "Swiss conservatives split by immigration campaign". The Local. 2011-08-08.
  13. "Als wäre der Teufel hinter ihnen her". Der Bund (in German). 2018-03-16.
  14. "Lobbyist wider Willen". Republik (in German). 2019-10-08.
  15. "Schweizer Elitesoldaten sollen nach Kabul". Blick (in German). 2020-04-21.
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