Maurer threatened him with impeachment, says Michel Huissoud in an interview «La Liberte». However, there was no decision by the Federal Council as a whole.
Michel Huissoud, Director of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO), before a media conference in Bern in late May 2022.
Michel Huissoud, head of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO), made headlines a few days before his retirement. in one Interview with the Friborg newspaper “La Liberté” he says that Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer threatened him with disciplinary proceedings – without there having been a decision by the Federal Council as a whole.
According to Huissoud, the trigger was a complaint from the pharmaceutical company Frederik Paulsen. His lawyer had denounced Huissoud in a letter to the Federal Council by accusing the auditor of official secrecy and violation of personal rights.
Statement from 2019
The background to the accusation is that Huissoud 2019 told the Tamedia newspapers that it was questionable whether the flat-rate taxation of the pharmaceutical company Paulsen was lawful.
Ueli Maurer’s spokesman Peter Minder told the Tamedia newspapers on Friday about Huissoud’s criticism of Maurer: “Federal Councilor Maurer had indications that the SFAO director could have violated official secrecy with statements about individual taxpayers to the media.” The procedure was intended to clarify this suspicion.
Huissoud replied in an interview with «La Liberte» further, after Maurer’s threat, he had obtained a legal opinion from ex-federal judge Claude Rouiller at his own expense. This had come to the conclusion that neither a violation of personality nor a violation of official secrecy had occurred. The information about Paulsen had previously appeared in the media and he had never attacked Paulsen’s personality, Huissoud said. He only criticized the Federal Tax Administration.
Ultimately, there were never any proceedings against Huissoud. According to Tamedia, Maurer’s spokesman said: “The finance department came to the conclusion that the facts of the matter were sufficiently clarified with the statement within the framework of the legal hearing granted to him (Michel Huissoud).”
And Huissoud said he could not understand Ueli Maurer’s behavior: “Without a mandate from the entire Federal Council, he should never have taken action.” Maurer’s spokesman disagreed that the Federal Council had been informed about the opening of any disciplinary proceedings.
Previous Headlines
It’s not the first time Huissoud has caused a stir. In 2013, the Geneva native was appointed Chief Financial Auditor by the Federal Council. Since then, the once so discreet authority has repeatedly made headlines. Huissoud and his team have started publishing findings on the website. For example, the SBB was denounced there, but also various federal departments and the Swiss armaments company Ruag. With his bold manner, Huissoud repeatedly offended politicians and civil servants. He was accused of seeking the limelight instead of solving problems internally.
Most recently, Huissoud tried to get involved in foreign policy: he published a letter to Alexei Kudrin, the president of the Russian Chamber of Accounts, on the SFAO’s website. He urged him to “resolutely” intervene with the Kremlin chief Putin. This should end the war against Ukraine. The “Tages-Anzeiger” ran the headline: “Swiss top official wants to end the Ukraine war”. Huissoud was accused by critics of exaggerating his role. It should hardly have bothered the former anarchist.
Next Wednesday Huissoud has his last working day. It is questionable whether it will then become quieter around the French-speaking Swiss. There are voices in Bundesbern who claim that Huissoud would like to have another term in office. This man still has a lot to say, it seems.