Jean-Pascal Delamuraz
 Jean-Pascal Delamuraz      (politician) | |
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| Born | 1 April 1936 Vevey, Switzerland |
| Died | 4 October 1998 (Age 62) Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Alma mater | University of Lausanne |
| Party | Free Democratic Party of Switzerland |
Single Bilderberger Member of the Swiss Federal Council. Managed to get Switzerland into the World Trade Organization in 11994 without a referendum.
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Jean-Pascal Delamuraz was a single Bilderberger Member of the Swiss Federal Council and twice President of the Swiss Confederation. He managed to get Switzerland into the World Trade Organization without a referendum.
Education and Early Career
Delamuraz obtained a degree in political science from the University of Lausanne in 1960. He was assistant to the administrative director of the 1964 Swiss National Exhibition in Lausanne, then became permanent secretary of the Vaudois Radical Party in 1965. He joined the Lausanne municipal council the same year. In 1970, he became municipal in charge of Public Works, then syndic of Lausanne in 1974.
He sat on the National Council from 1975 to 1983. At the same time, he joined the Council of State of the canton of Vaud in 1981, where he headed the Department of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce for two years.
Politics
He was first in charge of the Military Department from 1984. Under his leadership, the Swiss army notably embarked on the purchase of Leopard 2 tanks from West Germany.
In 1986, he took over the Department of Public Economy. A fervent pro-European, he tried to bring Switzerland into the European Economic Area (EEA), an extensive trade block with the EC, but the people refuse it by 50.3% of the voters in a referendum on December 6, 1992.
On the other hand, he managed to ratify membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994 (Marrakesh Treaty) without a referendum being tabled. The membership meant an opening of Swiss agriculture to world trade, and a mass closing of Swiss farms.
He was President of the Swiss Confederation in 1989 and 1996. At the end of 1996, when the Swiss general public became aware of a controversy concerning the behavior of its banks during World War II following actions by American lawyers (the Jewish funds affair), Jean-Pascal Delamuraz spoke of “blackmail” of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), which earned him a deluge of criticism in the international press. This controversy was ended in January 1997, after Delamuraz publicly apologized to the president of the WJC Edgar Bronfman.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
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| Bilderberg/1995 | 8 June 1995 | 11 June 1995 | Greece Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel Vouliagmeni | The 43rd Bilderberg. Held at the Burgenstock Hotel in Burgenstock, Switzerland. |
