Ready honey: Maneuvers against SP: Greens discover power politics

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Only half a year ago, the Greens had kept their mouths shut – reaping malice and ridicule in return. The party announced that it would not put forward a candidate to succeed SP federal councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (63). Reason: In terms of content, the SP and the Greens are too close to each other.

A few weeks earlier, the Greens had flirted with an attack on the SVP seat of Finance Minister Ueli Maurer (72), although the SVP’s claim to two seats is undisputed. In the end, the Greens decided against it. Reason: A candidacy would be hopeless.

Being nice gets us nowhere

The reaction to this zigzag course was not long in coming. The Greens did not understand the nature of the concordance, the FDP teased. The Greens lack strategy, it sounded from the ranks of the SP. Even the Green Liberals, who support the ambitions of the Green Bundesrat, were annoyed.

This left its mark on the green parliamentarians. The mockery from the left camp in particular caused displeasure. And let the party come to the conclusion: being nice gets us nowhere. “It was a maturing process,” says Green National Councilor Bastien Girod (42). The results have become visible in recent weeks.

The Greens twice put their own interests above those of the SP. And surprised the comrades with it.

The Greens secured the vice presidency of the PUK after the Credit Suisse debacle. At the expense of the SP, which had aspired to the same position. And this week, following the resignation of Alain Berset (51), the Greens announced they would explore all options in December’s Federal Council elections. In other words, attacking the SP seat is no longer taboo.

Not an easy task for Greens

The Greens make power politics. It took the party almost four years after its historic election victory in 2019 to get through. While the comrades have never had qualms about achieving their goals thanks to deals with political opponents, the pacifist Greens have always displayed such behavior with suspicion. That is changing – and with it the relationship between the sister parties.

“It is an emancipation that has not yet been completed,” says Green National Council member and party leader Aline Trede (39). “Finding a role is not easy for us or for the SP.”

In fact, the SP is annoyed by the actions of the Greens in the area of ​​PUK. You would have led the Social Democrats to believe that they supported the SP’s candidacy for vice presidency, says a politician behind closed doors. The fact that the Greens made an agreement with the center to get the mail did not go down well with the comrades. Just like the statement that “all scenarios” would be examined in the Federal Council elections in December.

Bad time for a dispute between the Greens and SP

The Greens, on the other hand, believe that the SP has only looked after itself so far. “The Social Democrats never helped us get into the Bundesrat,” says a politician who also wishes to remain anonymous. “You never tried to break the magic formula.”

No such aggressive tones can be heard from the leader of the Green Party, Trede. She knows that a struggle between the SP and the Greens will end badly for the many swinging voters in the election year. Accordingly, the Greens don’t want to make the Federal Council seat a “priority campaign issue,” Trede says. “Our goal is to get enough votes for three Bundesrat seats together with the SP.”

However, such a result is hardly to be expected. And so adds alderman Bastien Girod (42): The Greens are a “separate party with its own priorities such as climate protection, biodiversity, equality”. “We have a responsibility to our constituents to represent their interests – including in the Federal Council,” Girod concluded.

In other words, the Greens are not giving up their newfound claim to power anytime soon.

There’s plenty to talk about in the left-green camp.

Source:Blick