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The co-president of SP Switzerland admits that the Corona leaks are not a good start to the election year, but warns against prejudice. The heads of the Federal Council parties commented on the GPK investigation, on Ukraine and on the election campaign.
Politics has barely started the 2023 election year when it has to deal with possible indiscretions in the Federal Palace.
“Of course, the serious allegations about the department of SP Federal Councilor Alain Berset do not help the SP in the election campaign,” admitted Mattea Meyer, co-president of SP Switzerland, in the “Arena”.
Special investigators and the business audit commissions of the National Council and the Council of States GPK are now investigating the allegations that Berset’s head of communications is said to have delivered confidential information to Ringier’s publishing head during the pandemic.
The investigation of the GPK was also extended to the entire Federal Council and is intended to determine whether there have also been leaks in other departments.
It is important that the suspicion of indiscretions is checked by the judiciary, Meyer said. Nevertheless, prejudices are inappropriate. Federal Councilor Berset did a good job in the corona pandemic. “I find it disturbing that the SVP is trying to make political capital out of this situation,” said Meyer.
“If Federal Councilor Berset knew about the indiscretions, it’s a leadership crisis, if he didn’t know, then it’s an institutional crisis,” said SVP President Marco Chiesa. It remains to be seen what the investigations by the GPK will reveal. “But as head of department, Berset has to take responsibility and make a decision,” says Chiesa. He therefore assumes that Berset will not run again in the general renewal elections.
With FDP President Thierry Burkart, the trust is still unbroken: “As long as we have not proven the opposite, I believe the word of Federal Councilor Berset, by which he will also be measured.”
Marianne Binder, a member of the Central Party Presidium, welcomes the fact that the allegations are being taken as an opportunity to investigate what is happening in the Federal Council as a whole. “Cooperation between the Federal Council and other bodies is made more difficult when there is a fear of breaches of confidentiality.”
Heated debate about the election campaign issues of the parties
In addition to the investigation into Alain Berset, the election campaign issues in the “Arena” were also in the foreground.
For example, the SVP is focusing on the issue of immigration. “Last year 200,000 people immigrated,” said Chiesa, “that is simply disproportionate and must be controlled in order to maintain our prosperity.”
The shackles are tightening, we have more regulations and bureaucracy.
Politics should not be made at the expense of the people, Meyer replied. Instead, she is fighting for lower rents, more daycare places and a better pension system, especially for women, so that the potential for skilled workers in Germany can be better exploited.
For Thierry Burkart, on the other hand, liberal economic policy is in the foreground: “The shackles are being tightened, we have more and more regulations and bureaucracy.” That’s a pity for innovation. There is also a backlog in digitization.
For Marianne Binder, the focus is, among other things, on purchasing power and the associated healthcare costs. “We have a well-functioning healthcare system, but it generates costs that could have been avoided. This increases health insurance premiums, which becomes a problem for small and medium-sized businesses.”
Does the War Material Act have to be amended?
Most recently, the “Arena” also dealt with the situation in Ukraine and the Swiss non-re-export declaration, according to which countries that bought ammunition and weapons in Switzerland are prohibited from delivering them to Ukraine.
While Swiss neutrality clearly forbids such deliveries for Marco Chiesa, the other guests are considering amending the law. “We are torpedoing the security efforts of the West, that cannot be the opinion of neutrality,” said Burkart.
It remains to be seen which party and which topics will score with the voters in the election year. In any case, there was no lack of commitment in the heated discussions in the “Arena”.