Swiss Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin, 67, who has championed unpopular welfare reforms, said yesterday he is stepping down, prompting the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to demand an extra cabinet seat. The SVP, which won most votes in a 2007 election, and the liberal Free Democrats, Couchepin’s party, looked set to fight over who should fill the spare position on the seven-member Federal Council. Couchepin, interior minister since 2003 and economy minister from 1998 to 2002, He said he planned to step down on Oct. 31, ending a 41-year political career. The SVP said in a statement that Couchepin was running away from problems.
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