Jon Andri Pult (; ; born 12 October 1984) is a Swiss consultant, historian and politician who currently serves as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Social Democratic Party since 2019. He previously served on the Grand Council of Grisons between 2010 and 2018. In the 2023 Swiss federal election, Pult declared official candidacy for Federal Council (Switzerland), to succeed Alain Berset.
Early life and education
Pult was born 12 October 1984 in Scuol, Switzerland, to Clot Pult, a teacher, and Marcella Pult (née Palmara), an
Italy-born art historian and translator.
He was raised in Guarda and
Milan until he entered kindergarten in Domat/Ems.
His grandfather was
Romanism and culture advocate.
[Obituary by Gion Deplazes (in German)
]
https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=bmb-002%3A1992%3A0%3A%3A568
His uncle is
Romansh language lecturer, translator and cultural mediator Chasper Pult (born 1949).
Later he attended primary and high school in
Chur.
Following he studied history at the University of Zurich
and graduated with a licentiate about the History of the
Rhaetian Railway.
Professional career
In 2016, Jon Pult was employed by Feinheit, a campaign and strategy developer.
Since 2022, he is a Member of the Board of Feinheit.
In 2014, Pult assumed the presidency of the ,
an association which aims at safeguarding the Alps from transit traffic.
In March 2024 Jon Pult was elected as member of the Board of the Convivenza Foundation - International Center for Minorities.
Political career
He has for years been mentioned as one of the political talents with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung describing him in 2014 as the political talent.
Three former presidents of the SP have lauded him and he is widely viewed a promising politician.
Jacqueline Fehr called him in 2010 a promise to the future,
Peter Bodenmann reasoned in 2015 that the current SP president
Christian Levrat was only staying president to give Pult some more time to get ready and when
Helmut Hubacher was asked who the candidates for the succession of Levrat were, he answered that even though the people talked about others, in his opinion Pult was the main talent for the party.
Cantonal politics
Between 2005 and 2011, he was a member of the Municipal Council of
Chur, and between 2010 and 2018 one of the Grand Council of Grisons.
As a Grand Councilor he was in favor of a revision of the electoral system from the majoral to the proportional system and joined forces with the Swiss People's Party (SVP).
In 2013, the
Grisons branch of the SP managed to stop the candidature of St.Moritz to become the host of the Olympic Games 2022.
In 2018 he resigned because he wanted to be elected to the National Council in 2019 and his party would have lost a seat if he had to resign from the Grand Council after getting elected to the National Council.
Member of the National Council
In national politics he was a candidate to the National Council in 2011 and also 2015, but was not elected.
In 2019 he was a candidate to both the National Council (the lower chamber) and the Council of States (the higher chamber).
In his electoral campaign to the National Council he positioned himself as focused on policy regarding traffic and Europe.
Eventually he was elected to the National Council as a representative for Grisons for the SP.
Personal life
Pult is in a relationship with Sara Ibrahim, an editor and journalist, of
Egypt and
Italy origin. She primarily works for
SwissInfo focussing on Middle Eastern and North African topics.
They have one child.
Pult is a citizen of Italy and Switzerland and lives in Chur. His place of origin is Sent in Grisons.