class=”sc-29f61514-0 jbwksb”>
Samira Marti (29) is twelve years old when she learns that her secondary school in Reigoldswil, in the Basel countryside, will probably have to close. The canton was in the red for years due to tax cuts and had to save mainly in education. “That seemed wrong to me,” Marti later says. She took part in demonstrations and fought against the canton’s plans with her classmates. The resistance was successful: in the end the school remained open.
Deep political career
The incident has politicized her. During her Gymi time, Samira Marti joined Juso and SP – and quickly rose through the ranks. At the age of 23 she was vice president of the cantonal party and a year later she made the leap to the National Council. Your only failure so far: the candidacy for the Juso presidency. In their place, Tamara Funiciello (33) grabbed the post.
Maybe it’s no coincidence, because where Funiciello comes across as loud and determined and doesn’t shy away from provocations, Marti is more reserved. The description as a “provocative young woman” in the media bothers her. “I read that over and over, but it doesn’t describe me.” She would rather describe herself as “stubborn but decent,” she says.
Dream job: journalist
Today, the Juso defeat has been digested – and Marti has a good chance of taking over one of the most important posts in the Federal Palace – the chairmanship of the parliamentary group. This would make her responsible for keeping the SP parliamentarians in line.
As a child, however, she had a different career goal, as she revealed on Thursday to a school class in Basel visiting the parliament building: “I wanted to travel the world as a journalist and find out what goes wrong.”
The students, a secondary class of Sissach BL, sit in a large room and have to ask the politician their questions. But some mumble the question so shyly in their T-shirts that it’s more guesswork than understanding.
Politician with a lot of flair
Marti asks once or twice, at the same time explaining that she “doesn’t hear very well”, for which she apologizes. The question is whether that is really the case or whether Marti simply wants to take away the children’s fear of asking questions. One thing is certain: she does her best to answer the children’s questions as simply as possible – and yet she always falls into political language. When she talks about the “spectacles of social justice” or about “people affected by poverty”, the students’ attention slackens.
That surprises. Because Marti is known for her intuition: she usually knows with which ideas she can approach politicians from other parties. And unlike some left-wing MPs, she doesn’t get upset when middle-class colleagues don’t share her point of view on difficult issues like refugees or poverty.
That probably explains why, despite her Juso past, Marti hardly provokes any negative reactions in federal Bern, on the contrary: the SP land council member invariably receives high marks from her council members.
SVPers also praise them
Marti is a “political talent”, says GLP politician Corina Gredig (35): “She is a quick thinker, accessible and knows how to forge alliances.” FDP national councilor Andri Silberschmidt (29) calls her “hard-working, file-resistant and rhetorically gifted”: it is not easy for anyone who takes on her.
Even SVP National Councilor Gregor Rutz (50) has nothing but praise for Marti. “She argues well, is persistent and affable.” The two have worked together several times. For example, about the question of how Parliament should be involved in urgent matters.
In fact, Marti is not afraid to approach political opponents – and to look for majorities in that way. She succeeded in her latest coup this week: the conservative Council of States said yes to her initiative “poverty is not a crime”.
Even the Council of States convinced
Marti thus reversed a tightening of the aliens law. The broad support of 80 organisations, from Catholic and Reformed churches to Caritas and the cantons, was decisive. They all courted the Council of States for a yes. The result: foreigners who have lived in Switzerland for more than ten years may no longer be threatened with expulsion if they receive social assistance through no fault of their own.
That a left group finds a majority in the Council of States is special, just as Marti’s field of study – she studied economics – is rather unusual for a left-wing politician. “I wanted to understand how our world works,” explains Marti. “Why inequalities are getting bigger – and what screws you need to turn to prevent that.”
What a competition for the chairmanship of the parliamentary group
Marti says she will think twice about running for president of the parliamentary group. “It is an exciting task to look for solutions together with the aim of promoting social Switzerland.” She has many supporters in her party, with the Juso faction behind her. But she, who likes to play Jass in her spare time, has a flaw: like the co-chairman of the party, she comes from German-speaking Switzerland.
The SP currently has two federal councillors. Nevertheless, the Romands should also claim the group chairmanship. One of the potential candidates is Samuel Bendahan (43), SP National Councilor from Vaud. He is thinking about it, confirms Bendahan when asked. But he hasn’t made a decision yet. The election for the successor to the current group leader Roger Nordmann (50) will take place in September.
GLP can contest SP seats
And there is another possible stumbling block on the way to the group presidency: the elections in October. The strengthened GLP could challenge the SP for one of the seats. Samira Marti is still confident. “National elections work differently than at the cantonal level,” she says. She is therefore confident that the SP will be able to retain both seats.
One thing is certain: it should not be due to their lack of effort. “I will give everything in the election campaign.” As always in politics.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
