Members of the National Council and Council of States
There are two chambers of parliament in Switzerland: the National Council and the Council of States. The members of both chambers are elected by the people every four years. Together, the two chambers constitute the Federal Assembly. The members of the Federal Assembly in turn elect the members of the Federal Government – the seven members of the Federal Council – for a four-year term.
On the following pages you will find brief portraits of the members of parliament who represent the Canton of Basel-Stadt.
Council of States
The Council of States represents the cantons and has 46 members. As cantons entitled to a half-vote, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft are represented by one member each.
State Councillor Eva Herzog (SP)
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- Basel State Councillor Eva Herzog (SP)
Eva Herzog (*1961) holds a doctorate in history and has been a State Councillor for Basel-Stadt since 2019. She is first vice president of the council of states, first vice president of the administration delegation (ADel), a member the Science, Education and Culture Committee (SECC-S), the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee (EATC), the Transport and Telecommunications Committee (TTC-S), the Legislature Planning Committee (LPC-S) and the Delegation for relations with the German Bundestag (Del-D). From 2005 to 2020 she was a State Councillor and head of the Department of Finance. Previously, she was a member of the Constitutional Council from 1999 to 2003 and a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt from 2001 to 2005.
National Council
The National Council has 200 members and represents the interests of the people. The number of seats is assigned according to the size of each canton’s population. The Canton of Basel-Stadt is represented in the National Council by four members.
Sibel Arslan (Green Alliance of Basel-Stadt)
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- Basel National Councillor Sibel Arslan (Green Alliance of Basel-Stadt)
Sibel Arslan (*1980) is a lawyer and has been in the National Council since 2015. She is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC-N), the Judicial Committee (JC), the Delegation of the Council of Europe as well as the Committee for Legal Affairs (LAC-N). She was also a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt from 2005 to 2016.
Katja Christ (GLP)
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- Basel National Councillor Katja Christ (GLP)
Katja Christ (*1972) is a lawyer. Since 2019 she has been a member of the National Council, since 2018 a member of the Riehen Residents' Council and since 2014 a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. She is a member of the Control Committee (CC-N) and the Transport and Telecommunications Committee (TTC-N). She was a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt from 2014 to 2020 and of the Riehen Residents' Council from 2018 to 2020.
Patricia von Falkenstein (LDP)
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- Basel National Councillor Patricia von Falkenstein (LDP)
Patricia von Falkenstein (*1961) is a lawyer. She has been a member of the National Council since 2021. She is a member of the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC-N). Previously, she was a member of the Constituent Assembly (2002-2005) and the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt (2006-2020). She has been a member of the Citizens’ Town Council since 2016.
Sarah Wyss (SP)
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- Basel National Councillor Sarah Wyss (SP)
Sarah Wyss (*1988) holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History as well as a Master of Arts in European Studies. She has been a National Councillor and a member of the Finance Committee (FK-N) since 2020. She was a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt from 2012 to 2021.