After the elections – Pfister: “A second seat for the center would not be justified” – News

Center boss Gerhard Pfister comments on the correction of the election results in the “Samstagsrundschau”.

At the beginning of the week, Gerhard Pfister looked like one of the big election winners, with the first final result putting him in the middle at 14.6 percent and ahead of the FDP. But then the Federal Statistical Office corrected the election result and the center was only 14.1 percent and behind the FDP. “That’s not pleasant,” says the Mitte president in the SRF’s Sonntagsrundschau.

Gerhard Pfister is also satisfied with his party’s 14.1 percent, the center was able to confirm the merger of the CVP and BDP and even increase it slightly; Nevertheless, the correction of the election results did not go down well with him. What particularly bothered him was how “casually” the Federal Statistical Office communicated this.

If votes and elections are not counted correctly, this damages the population’s trust in the state.

If the office director simply points out that they produce more than one statistic per year, that is unacceptable. “If votes and elections are not counted correctly, then this damages the population’s trust in the state.” In terms of state policy, this is much more important than the per thousand that the center is ahead or behind the FDP.

Composition of the Federal Council

Nevertheless, with the FDP’s losses – the FDP fell to 14.3 percent – the question about the composition of the Federal Council arises once again and even more urgently: Is the four-way majority of the FDP and SVP in the Federal Council justified? The FDP Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in particular has to worry about his seat; he has had to endure repeated criticism in recent years.

This has nothing to do with Cassis as a person.

In this respect, you can also personalize the question: Is it in Switzerland’s interest if Cassis remains foreign minister for another four years? Gerhard Pfister replies: “That has nothing to do with Cassis as a person.” The question is whether a Federal Councilor should be voted out of office and whether a different Federal Council composition would be more justified.

Pfister first emphasizes that a right-wing majority of SVP and FDP in the Federal Council is “neither confirmed by the people nor legitimized”. But he also says that if the distance between the center and the FDP is narrow, the center would not be credible if it “subito” demanded a second seat.

That’s an interesting statement and basically the final proof that nothing will happen in the general election in December. But the problem of the illegitimate second FDP seat does not go away.

Power over domestic political issues

In addition, the problem of the FDP-SVP over-representation in the Federal Council was demonstrated in an exemplary manner this week. She decided that the health initiatives of the center and the SP on health costs and health insurance premiums will not be voted on next March as planned, but only later.

If it sets a precedent that a majority in the Federal Council simply says that the agenda doesn’t suit us, then you are playing with people’s rights.

If the four SVP-FDP representatives decided for “flimsy reasons” to postpone votes on the most important domestic policy issue, then they would be doing themselves a disservice, emphasizes Gerhard Pfister: “Those who made this decision in the Federal Council must already be over the books because that will be a boomerang for them. If it sets a precedent that a majority in the Federal Council simply says that the agenda doesn’t suit us, then you’re playing with people’s rights and I don’t think that’s appropriate for a Federal Council.”

This is a clear and unambiguous criticism from Mitte President Gerhard Pfister. But he doesn’t have the solution to the Federal Council problem either.