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Henrique Schneider (45) does not give up. He had already been elected as the new director of the trade association when the “NZZ am Sonntag” published a sensational article in the spring: Schneider allegedly adorned himself with false titles and repeatedly plagiarized.
The alarmed trade association had the allegations investigated by an external body. The commissioned law firm concluded that Schneider had “committed serial plagiarism”. Two weeks ago, the board of directors headed by President and Central National Councilor Fabio Regazzi (61) revoked Schneider’s appointment as director.
«Joint campaign to weaken GFF»
But the battle for the influential commercial mail continues. Schneider isn’t about to give up without a fight — and he’s not alone. A real counter-movement has formed, consisting mainly of SVP and FDP politicians. They demand an extraordinary meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, the parliament of the trade association, for next Wednesday, SonntagsBlick reports. In short: you want to stay with Schneider.
Schneider also wants to take office, after all he has been neatly chosen. In a letter to the members of the Chamber of Commerce, which Blick has seen, he fired all guns at his critics. Not only the media are the target, the board of the trade association is not free either.
“I think we are dealing with a concentrated campaign orchestrated from outside that aims to weaken the Swiss trade association,” grumbles Schneider. “The fact that the press feels empowered to pressure the SGV and dictate who to hire and who should be delegated to the federal commissions is unacceptable and weakens the political power of the SGV.” Ergo: Everyone else is to blame.
Broadside also against its own board
Schneider admits that he writes a lot of lyrics in his spare time. He does not explicitly deny that he has committed plagiarism. Yet he does not want to know about the allegations, because they have nothing to do with his work at the trade association. “They don’t apply because I’m not a scientist.”
In fact, the outside law firm also concluded that Schneider had engaged in “clear misconduct.” However, this is “not serious”, since the trade association is not a “scientific trend company”. But even this report is criticized by Henrique Schneider. “In the present case it can be left open whether the board was authorized to do so at all.” Schneider accuses the SGV management of not being heard there either.
The question is how Schneider intends to cooperate with the SGV board in the future. Because in his letter he doesn’t waste time: “The subsequent communication of the board of directors with internal and external authorities after the board decision was damaging to our reputation.” He informed the board a few weeks ago “that I do not accept this communication”. To date, however, the board has not retracted its statement.
The power struggle is getting bigger
And Schneider reiterates that he was elected in a proper, statute-compliant process with no dissenting votes. And: He assumes that he will take up his position on July 1 ‘undisturbed by externally controlled maneuvers’.
How the vote will turn out on Wednesday is open. One thing is clear: it is also about the future of SGV chairman Regazzi. The center politician of Ticino is having a hard time in the association, which is increasingly dominated by right-wing citizens. The power struggle continues to expand.
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.
