Irène Kälin
Irène Kälin in 2019.
President of the National Council
In office
29 November 2021 – 28 November 2022
Preceded byAndreas Aebi
Succeeded byMartin Candinas
Member of the National Council of Switzerland
Assumed office
27 November 2017
Preceded byJonas Fricker
Member of the Grand Council of Aargau
In office
January 2010 – November 2017
Personal details
Born (1987-02-06) 6 February 1987
Lenzburg, Aargau
NationalitySwiss
Political partyGreen Party of Switzerland
Alma materUniversity of Zurich
University of Bern
OccupationTrade unionist

Irène Kälin (born 6 February 1987 in Lenzburg, Aargau; originally from Einsiedeln) is a Swiss politician of the Green Party.

Life and career

Studies and professional career

Kälin earned her Matura at the Gymnasium Leonhard in Basel in 2007. In 2009, she started her Islamic and religion studies at the University of Zurich and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 2013. In 2014, she joined the master's programme Religionskulturen of the University of Bern, where she wrote a dissertation about the state recognition of Islam.[1] She worked as a trade unionist for Unia Aargau from 2015 to 2016 and is now the chairwoman of ArbeitAargau, the umbrella organisation of employees in the canton.[2][3]

Political career

From January 2010 to November 2017, Kälin sat in the Grand Council of Aargau, where she served as the vice-chairwoman of three committees: the Committee for Responsibility Planning and Finance (2010–2013), the Naturalization Committee (2013–2015) and the Committee for Environment, Building, Transport, Energy and Land Use Planning (2013–2015);[4] besides, she became a member of the Business Examination Committee in 2017. Moreover, she was the co-chairwoman of the Green Party group in the Grand Council.[3]

Kälin was the vice-chairwoman of the Green Party of Switzerland from 2012 to 2014.[3]

In the 2015 federal election, Kälin stood for the National Council and the Council of States[5] but was defeated by 2,500 votes by Jonas Fricker. On 27 November 2017, she replaced the resigning Fricker in the National Council as she was listed second on the party's electoral list.[6] She retained her seat in the 2019 federal election and was appointed as the second vice-chairwoman of the National Council for the year 2019–20.[7] After having served as the first vice president in the legislature 2020-2021,[7] she assumed as the President of the National Council in November 2021.[8]

Political positions

In Parliament, Kälin has advocated for gender equality, ecology and animal welfare[8] as well as the state recognition of Islam and supported the anti-nuclear movement.[1] In April 2022 she and other Swiss parliamentarians were invited to the Ukraine where they informed themselves on the situation of the ongoing Russian Ukrainian war.[9][10]

Private life

In 2013, Kälin entered into a legal union with journalist Werner De Schepper.[11] In 2018 they moved from Lenzburg to Oberflachs, Aargau. In the same year she gave birth to their first son whom she takes to the National Council during parliamentary debates.[12][13] In 2023, the separation with De Schepper was announced, Kälin moved to Aarau.[14] She also speaks Persian and Arabic.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Zünd, Céline (October 12, 2017). "Irène Kälin veut que l'islam devienne une affaire de l'Etat". Le Temps (in French). ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Vorstand" (in German). ArbeitAargau. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Wahl der zwei aargauischen Mitglieder des Ständerats für die Amtsdauer 2015/2019 vom 18. Oktober 2015 (1. Wahlgang) – Kandidatenportrait – Kälin Irène" (PDF) (in German). official website of the canton of Aargau. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Irène Kälin" (in German). official website of the canton of Aargau. Archived from the original on July 4, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Irène Kälin über ihre Kandidatur (14.1.2015)" (Interview) (in German). SRF. January 14, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Erste Reaktionen: Das sagen Nachfolgerin Kälin und Aargauer Grünen-Präsident Hölzle". Aargauer Zeitung (in German). October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Ratsmitglied ansehen". www.parlament.ch. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  8. 1 2 3 Büchi, Jaqueline (29 November 2021). "Irène Kälin – Jung, grün, höchste Schweizerin". Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  9. ↑ "Irène Kälin nach Ukraine-Reise – «Ich würde jederzeit wieder gehen»". Berner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  10. ↑ "Message positif au retour du voyage en Ukraine, selon Irène Kälin" (in French). 28 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  11. ↑ Schweizer Illustrierte, April 15, 2013, p. 111 (in German)
  12. ↑ "Umzug: Irène Kälin wird Schenkenbergerin". Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  13. ↑ "Nationalrätin Irène Kälin hat ihr Baby bekommen". Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  14. ↑ Irène Kälin hat sich getrennt und zieht nach Aarau. In: Aargauer Zeitung, 31. März 2023.
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