Lukas Berfuss on the responsibility of our new parliament: facing change boldly

There is no orientation in the fog of war. No one knows where the fighting will be, how long the wars will last, if or when the next escalation will happen, the next bloodbath, the next massacre, the next defeat, how bad things have to get before things finally get better.

Only the cries of the victims point the way, moral, political and military, showing what is at stake.

Those under attack, Israel and Ukraine, are fighting against aggressors who want to destroy them. Neither Putin nor Hamas have ever hidden their destructive intentions. Few people believed them. Most people considered this empty talk, boasting, cheap propaganda. These killers were extremely serious. We see: the right of Israel and Ukraine to exist is not primarily a matter of international law or politics. It’s a matter of survival. For people in war zones, victory and defeat make the difference between life and death today, now, in the immediate present.

But besides this, everyone who wants to be free faces this decision. We are also here in Switzerland. Not today, not in these hours or days, but at the latest, if Israel or Ukraine loses the battle.

Two democracies are under attack. Two states that, despite all efforts and difficulties, adhere to the rule of law and separation of powers. This summer, people in Israel showed how important rights and freedoms are to them. Hundreds of thousands of them took to the streets against judicial reform. Old and young, representatives of all walks of life, united in the struggle for the separation of powers. Their rights were not an abstract commodity for them, they were and remain an existential necessity.

The heroism of the people of Ukraine was demonstrated to us every day for 605 days. We understand: if necessary, they will defend their freedom with their bare hands. You know the alternative. This has been amply demonstrated to them for centuries, most recently in Bakhmut and just as Hamas did in Israel on October 7th. Through kidnappings, through mass murders, through atrocities, through mass murders of innocent people, women, old people, children.

These outrages also show us how valuable and endangered democracy, freedom and the rule of law are. Nothing is guaranteed. Every generation must stand up for freedom and justice. Responsibility for democracy, for a fair life among equals, is indivisible. Anyone who abandons this fight out of humility or ignorance leaves the enemies of democracy in control of our children’s future.

We are not at the front. But here, too, the war is waged every day with familiar weapons. Not bombs and guns, for us it’s bank accounts and stock portfolios. Every franc of the roughly 150 billion Russian assets held in Switzerland benefits the Moscow regime. Our country trades in raw materials and energy, the most important military resources. Every transaction of a totalitarian state supports a war against democracy, against human rights, against freedom. We know this. We cannot and do not want to do it any other way. We depend on killers, on states that support terrorists. Qatar and Azerbaijan are the names of our dealers, warmongers and enemies of democracy. They provide what we depend on. And with every barrel of oil they sell us, we support their war on democracy.

Switzerland is a haven for too many criminals. Switzerland’s sanctions policy does not deserve its name. The Iranian executioners still have nothing to fear from the Swiss Confederation, and the international mafia, which sits at the same trough and makes a business out of suffering and death, has too little to fear.

Switzerland is also an ideological battleground. Anti-Semitism is not a matter of political orientation, religion or culture. It runs through every social class. Fighting it is the first task of a democratic state. Jewish friends feel a fundamental, existential insecurity in our country. Many for the first time in their lives. Switzerland must do everything to protect them from these misanthropes.

And in this world, in these dark times, Switzerland is choosing a new parliament. This is the 52nd time since the state was founded 175 years ago. What are his tasks, what are his responsibilities? What place has history given to the chosen ones?

Judged by its own standards, Switzerland has succeeded. Over the past 175 years, it has risen to the top of the refined rankings. Proper administration, an efficient population, opportunistic cunning in foreign policy, no fear of dishonest means and, if necessary, too often, not above the use of criminal methods, even notorious complicity with the worst criminals in the known universe, to assert their power. own interests.

This relative success was achieved primarily due to the careful development of the sector. It dominates the political position. The police system involves professionals in management and responsibility. The country has outstanding specialists in every possible discipline. Insurance, health, not to mention finances. This experience is profitable and the benefits are realized.

But today, in the 21st century, anyone who only understands financial policy understands nothing about it. The days of exclusively sectoral policies are over. Technical knowledge is no longer enough to solve serious problems. Any war can and will one day be resolved through military defeat, through diplomacy and, since miracles sometimes happen, through reason. But there is no solution, no ceasefire for global warming and species extinction, the largest in 60 million years since the end of the dinosaurs, and for demographic development. Their catastrophic consequences will inevitably affect us and future generations. This makes current wars even more terrible. It is clear: even after their end there will be no peace.

The challenges of the 21st century are systemic in nature. They affect all areas of life. How we work, live, what we eat, how we move, how we heat, how we produce electricity, how we organize as a society, how we ensure our security, how we regulate migration and the financial system: one is a cause-and-effect relationship with the other. together.

The people of the country understood this long ago. Changes inevitably come. There will be losers. We will have to compensate them. Concerns extend to the upper middle class as well. Costs are rising. Fewer and fewer people know how to pay their bills at the end of the month. And they wonder how many pensions and bonuses could be paid for with UBS’s $29 billion profit from the Credit Suisse takeover.

Politicians must raise this issue. Only coordinated policies can solve these problems. To achieve this, democracy must develop ideas and models. And the only place where this can happen is Parliament. Does he have courage, will, skills? Or will the Federal Councils continue to approve decisions of the Federal Council, as was the case during the pandemic, as was the case with the Constitutional Court, as was the case when negotiations on the framework agreement were interrupted in May 2021?

Too often, in the end, neither the Federal Council nor the Parliament makes decisions, but only the practical limitations into which a person has forced himself with his gaze.

The new Parliament has a responsibility like no other generation before it. Europe, migration, social justice, global warming—the next legislature won’t be a horse-drawn carriage ride. What could inspire parliamentarians? Perhaps let’s look into history. The founding of a federal state in 1848 bucked the global trend. During the heyday of political reaction and the police state, Switzerland fought for many civil rights. Do you have to be stupid, naive or just a democrat to want from the new, 52nd parliament this courage and confidence, the will to rebel against fate?