The former high-flyer and later fallen Geneva politician wants to return to the government body from which he was voted out. His chances are intact – but there is one factor that the gifted campaigner cannot influence.
Former Federal Council candidate Pierre Maudet wants to return to the Geneva State Council
Despite everything, he still hasn’t had enough: Pierre Maudet wants to return to the Geneva State Council. In the Wednesday edition of the local free newspaper “GHI”, the 44-year-old announces that he will be a candidate in the elections next April.
He doesn’t reveal much about his motivation. “I’m not doing this for any selfish purpose, but to uphold the values on my list,” he says. This is called Liberté et Justice sociale (freedom and social justice) – as in the by-elections of March 2021, when Maudet was not confirmed in office. He had previously resigned and was running for his own re-election.
Now manager in the private sector
Since then things have calmed down around Maudet, even though he occasionally makes public appearances in his new position as manager of an IT company. However, there is no comparison to the turbulent years in which the never-ending drama surrounding the exceptional politician kept the Republic of Geneva in suspense – and caused it to slide into an institutional crisis.
It all began in late summer 2018: the Geneva public prosecutor’s office opened criminal proceedings because of a trip he took with his family and chief of staff to the Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi in 2015. Accusation: acceptance of benefits in office – because the entire cost of the trip had been borne by the Emirati royal family, contrary to what Maudet had long claimed.
The deep fall
A mudslinging ensued, the likes of which even Geneva’s turbulent political scene doesn’t see every day. After the executive board of his FDP dropped him, the party base supported him at first – which caused the president to resign. When further inconsistencies, including those of a financial nature, became known, the party finally expelled him in July 2020. The case of the man, who was considered a child prodigy of Geneva politics and even achieved a respectable result in the Federal Council elections in 2017, was total. But Maudet continued to refuse to resign from his post as Councilor of State.
Meanwhile, things were no less heated on the legal stage. The first instance sentenced Maudet to a conditional fine in February 2021. In January of this year, however, the Geneva cantonal court overturned the decision, against which the public prosecutor appealed. The case is now in federal court.
The desire for revenge played no role in the decision to return to politics, Maudet assured GHI. “If that were the case, I wouldn’t have understood anything. It’s about creating a constructive dynamic.” The experience that he is now gaining in the private sector is also very valuable for this. Last winter, Maudet also set up its own foundation to develop projects of public benefit.
A mood with the ex-colleagues would be taken care of
If Maudet were actually elected in the spring, he would have to work with three or four government colleagues who had distanced themselves from him during the crisis and had withdrawn almost all of his duties. Mood would be taken care of.
According to today’s assessment, Maudet certainly has intact election chances. Because unlike the by-election in spring 2021, in which he did surprisingly well, especially in the first ballot, seven seats are now up for grabs. In addition, Maudet is an excellent campaigner, as he has repeatedly demonstrated. Last but not least, the judgment of the Federal Supreme Court could also change the dynamic. This is expected in the coming months – possibly in the middle of the hot phase of the election campaign.