FDP Council of States embarrasses own party

Is he still comfortable in his own skin? He smiles, raises his hands. Even if he wouldn’t put it so clearly himself: Josef Dittli made a mishap. The FDP Council of States from the canton of Uri, an old hand in the political business, miscalculated – and of all things with one of the most important bills in the legislature. He not only maneuvered himself into an uncomfortable position, but also his party.

It happened on April 26th in a meeting room in the Federal Palace. The Social Commission of the Council of States is once again discussing the reform of occupational pensions (BVG). And at the moment when the 13 women and men finally vote, Josef Dittli realizes what has struck: his proposal, which he imagined as a great middle-class compromise, is only supported by his own party colleagues – and by the left. The natural allies from the center party and the SVP are against it.

His motion finds a wafer-thin majority. But perhaps by now he would be glad if it had turned out the other way around. He would have been spared many an unpleasant question.

Redistribution even greater than assumed

Josef Dittli got lost in the impassable landscape of social policy. The liberal realized too late that he had overtaken the center left. Where he and the other two FDP members of the Commission have moved to, only the SP and the Greens can still be found. They support his proposal because, from their point of view, it represents the lesser evil. No wonder.

25 billion francs: That is the magnitude of the new redistribution from the working generations to the new pensioners that Dittli wants to introduce with the BVG reform. In his model, the pension subsidies for the transitional generation are even more expensive than originally assumed, such as new ones calculations show of the federal government. Although the costs are lower than the Federal Council’s original proposal, they are massively higher than the variant that the National Council decided last year. Here the transition costs are “only” about 9 billion.

The huge difference can also be expressed differently: In the Dittli plan, up to 88 percent of newly retired people would receive a pension supplement – regardless of whether the reform would result in a cut for them or not. In the version of the National Council, it is 35 to 40 percent.

Civic solidarity questioned

How did Dittli get involved? Last year, after a tough back-and-forth, the FDP, SVP and Mitte agreed on a joint solution. In the FDP in particular, opinions were at times very different. In the National Council, however, the three parliamentary groups then united in helping their plan to achieve a breakthrough. In the end, the GLP also agreed, although they would have preferred a more generous solution for the new pensioners.

Now Josef Dittli comes along and launches a proposal that is not only significantly more expensive, but also calls into question the bourgeois solidarity that has been hard won. For what reason? Has he lost the compass, as some in the FDP think?

Josef Dittli used to be a career officer. But he never wanted to be a party soldier. The 65-year-old sees himself as a member of the Council of States in the traditional sense: as someone who stands above partisan bickering. It is only logical that he does not discuss his plans with the party leadership before important committee meetings. Dittli was a government councilor for twelve years. That shapes.

In Uri he is known as the man who brought the Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris to Andermatt. In Bern, he is known as a typical representative of that illustrious species of old magistrates who continue to feel committed to finding a consensual solution in the “Stöckli” – almost as an extension of their former executive office. That is one side of Josef Dittli.

dark fantasy

The other: Dittli holds one of the best-paid association posts in Swiss politics. In 2018 he took over the presidency of the Curafutura Health Insurance Association as the successor to Ignazio Cassis, who was elected to the Federal Council. The 40-percent position is remunerated with 140,000 francs, which means that extrapolated to a full-time position, he earns more than he used to on the government council.

Which side of Josef Dittli was at work in the BVG reform? With a bit of dark imagination, one could come up with the following idea: Perhaps Dittli has made so much concessions to the left because he wants to make the responsible Federal Councilor, the Social Democrat Alain Berset, friendly. Berset is also responsible for health policy, a good understanding is in Curafutura’s interest.

Josef Dittli widens his eyes, then throws up his hands and laughs. “That’s rubbish.” He would never make such deals in his life, he emphasizes. Before the commission meetings, there had been no agreements between him and Berset.

Underestimated the cost

Then the other side: Dittli insists that he is only concerned with the matter, with the search for a viable solution. «This proposal must not fail, otherwise we are fundamentally endangering the second pillar. The worst thing for the young would be if there were no reform at all.” This is exactly the scenario that threatens if the National Council variant of the bill goes to the ballot box. “The risk is great that the left could overturn this template.”

Only: If Dittli wanted to propose a compromise, why is he then inflating the redistribution in favor of the new pensioners more than twice as much? Isn’t that too much of a good thing?

“Probably so”: With disarming frankness, he lets on that it was not possible for him to conclusively assess the financial extent of his proposal in the short time available. “But that’s not crucial.” The limit values ​​could be set lower in the further deliberations in Parliament, so that fewer new pensioners received a surcharge. “I see scope there,” says Dittli. And he explicitly emphasizes that he is also open to other suggestions, but so far none have come.

How that turns out is completely open. The starting position is unusually shaky for such an important reform. The Council of States will decide in mid-June. At the moment, the lines between the involved councillors, the party leaders and the associations are running hot. It will be exciting to see how the liberals get out of the affair.

Josef Dittli mimics serenity. “I did what I thought was right. If the majority doesn’t like it, so be it. I certainly don’t spill my heart’s blood over it.” On the other hand, you don’t really believe that.