The Zug government remains a purely civil body. Thanks to Laura Dittli, who, together with her sister Valérie, is causing a sensation across Switzerland.
The newly elected Zug government councilor Laura Dittli (right) is congratulated by her sister, the Vaud state councilor Valérie Dittli.
Switzerland has two new political stars: Laura and Valérie Dittli. Half a year after Valérie Dittli surprisingly made it into the Vaud State Council, her older sister Laura Dittli, not quite so surprisingly, followed suit. The 31-year-old made the leap into the Zug cantonal government on Sunday. However, it was unexpected that the newcomer was able to leave no fewer than five previous government councilors behind and ended up in second place.
The Mitte party can be happy about the two young talents from Oberägeri, where party president Gerhard Pfister is also from. Laura Dittli’s choice is less unexpected because it was systematically built up in Gerhard Pfister’s home canton. Despite her young age, she has had an impressive career. The lawyer and notary has been a member of the cantonal parliament since 2014 and has chaired the Mitte party since 2019.
“I knew Laura could do it. She has been doing good work in the canton of Zug for years and is known everywhere,” explained Valérie Dittli, who insisted on accompanying her sister on election day. The center thus continues to have three representatives in the seven-member executive. Dittli replaces the resigned security director and party colleague Beat Villiger.
Agreement of the left was useless
It was a bitter defeat for the alternatives – the Greens, who have had a strong influence on politics in the canton of Zug for decades with figures such as Hanspeter Uster, Jo Lang and Manuela Weichelt. Her candidate Tabea Zimmermann Gibson only came in eighth. She was only a few votes ahead of her GLP competitor Tabea Estermann. Since there was only one seat to be filled, the Green Liberals may have taken a few votes from the Greens.
The left-wing parties clearly missed their declared goal of regaining the seat they lost in 2018. This is despite the fact that the Greens and SP made clear agreements this time and there was a division of tasks. The most promising SP candidate, Barbara Gysel, did not run for the government, but for the presidency of the city of Zug. Even the controversial discussions that Russian oligarchs in the canton of Zug could count on open doors and political tolerance for too long did not help the left.
It shows that central Switzerland is and remains hard ground for the left. In the six cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zug, the SP and Greens only have one member of the government in Uri’s Security Director Dimitri Moretti (SP). Once a seat is lost, it is difficult to regain. This is the case in the canton of Schwyz, where SP candidate Patrick Notter had to let himself be beaten by the GLP candidate on September 25 in the by-election for two government members and is no longer running for the second ballot.
With good cards, however, the left is entering the election campaign in the canton of Lucerne, where the government and cantonal council will be reappointed on April 2, 2023. After three incumbent members of the government, including non-party Marcel Schwerzmann, announced their resignation, the seat lost seven years ago could be regained. However, even in the largest central Swiss canton, GLP is serious competition that should not be underestimated. This was not only evident in Zug, but also in Nidwalden. There, the Green Liberals surprisingly took a seat of government with Peter Truttmann last year and gave the Greens, which have been anchored in the canton for decades, a run for their money.
Disappointment for Heinz Tännler
Of the previous members of the government, middle man Martin Pfister did best, completing his party’s triumph. On the other hand, it was a disappointment for the SVP. Your two candidates, Finance Director Heinz Tännler and Education Director Stephan Schleiss, managed to be re-elected without any problems. However, it is rather unusual for the party, spoiled by success, to be classified in the bottom ranks. Above all, Heinz Tännler, who is one of the leading financial directors in Switzerland, was unsatisfactory. Statements he made to SRF reporters about the treatment of Russian oligarchs in Zug may also have harmed him in bourgeois circles.
As in all other government council elections where it has competed so far, the Aufrecht Switzerland movement performed miserably. Her candidate, the 55-year-old entrepreneur Adi Hadodo, only just got 3,636 votes, putting him in last place. So the electoral potential of the corona skeptics is so low.