“I serve a country, not my image”

Karin Keller-Sutter (58), head of the Justice and Police Department (FDJP), visited Blick in Lausanne this week. In an interview, the federal councilor explains why she loves French-speaking Switzerland, why she understands today’s young people who take to the streets and what she experienced when she was young in French-speaking Switzerland.

Blick: Mrs. Keller-Sutter, you are from the canton of St. Gallen, but your love for French-speaking Switzerland is well known. What do the Romans have that the German-speaking Swiss don’t?
Karin Keller Sutter: Apart from the language, a different mentality. My husband – to whom I have been married for 33 years – thinks I am a different person when I speak French. He says I’m more open. But maybe that’s because he doesn’t understand everything I’m saying. (She smiles.)

Did your family encourage you to study French with us?
Yes, my maternal grandfather was a farmer. My mother went to Lausanne in 1947 to become an au pair. Back then it was like doing an internship in the US or England to learn the language compared to current mobility options. That was quite unusual for a young pigeon from Toggenburg. And she remembered it fondly. She always told us with great love about Lausanne and Western Switzerland. She told us that the people here have more culture and more savoir-vivre and that we are a bit limited in comparison. (She smiles.)

So it was she who made you cross the Röstigraben?
Yes, since I was younger than my classmates, she arranged for me to spend another year in French-speaking Switzerland learning French. I ended up staying in Neuchâtel for four years.

Please tell us a formative memory from your childhood in Neuchâtel.
There isn’t one! When I came to Neuchâtel, I was between 15 and 16 years old. At the time, school wasn’t really my priority to be honest. It was about going out with friends, having a drink in Café des Moulins, playing pinball, going to the lake or the vintage festival, going to concerts… It was a time of freedom, without my parents, at the boarding school .

So they were on their own.
There were many widows who made their living housing young girls or boys from German-speaking Switzerland who, like me, went to trade school. For the second part of my stay I had a one-room apartment. And there I was alone and really had a lot of freedom. The funny thing was that when I got home on the weekend, my parents said, “You’re coming home at 10pm! Or at 11 pm! » While I was unsupervised during the week and could do whatever I wanted. It was a bit of a paradox.

If we had told the exchange student Karin that she would end up in the Bundesrat with the nickname “Swiss Iron Lady”, what would she have said?
(Smiles) She would have found it all a bit traditional.

Oh yeah?
Yes, because after graduating I had only one wish: to go to London. At that time I had a friend in Neuchâtel. He was a musician and went there to learn English. I wanted to go there too. But it must also be said that I was already very interested in politics back then.

At what age were you caught?
It is difficult to give an exact age. I grew up in a restaurant. As a result, I was soon confronted with the everyday problems of a small business: taxes, bureaucracy, new laws that also have to be applied in a small business… And we always discussed politics at home, especially with my father, who was in the Served in active service during World War II. But if I had to start somewhere, I’d say I really married politics when I got back from Montreal, where I was an exchange student. After this experience, I joined the FDP.

What was important to you as a young girl and later as a young politician? What were your first battles?
I would say the issue of abortion, which is much debated in society. As a young woman I felt addressed. I was of the opinion that women should absolutely have the right to self-determination.

But what is that?
I grew up politically in the “Latvian years”. That is why I was strongly influenced by the problem of the open drug scene in Zurich. I was 28 years old and was elected councilor in Wil. Our drug addicts went to Zurich, but returned to Wil in the evening. Here too I immediately felt addressed. I was on an initiative committee for setting up a fixer’s office – that was very new at the time. Concerned women from all walks of life were represented in this initiative group. We lost with that initiative, but the multi-pillar drug policy finally caught on and is no longer controversial.

It’s hard to imagine taking to the streets today with your index finger in the air. Have you ever demonstrated?
(She looks a little embarrassed) Mmmmh… Yeah…

That’s no shame!
No, no, of course not. It just created a little crisis for my parents who didn’t have that culture. When I told my father that I had taken part in a demonstration in Zurich, he didn’t think it was very funny.

And what brought you out on the street?
The struggle to create free spaces (editors: predecessors of community centers) for young people. That was in Zurich and St. Gallen, and it was more of a coincidence that I joined. Later, when I was older, I never took part in a demonstration or strike again.

Why is that?
Because as an elected politician I soon came to the conclusion that I could set other levers in motion. To give a recent example, let’s talk about the women’s strike: I understand those who want to get involved, but as a politician I have other opportunities to make a difference. We have institutional tools that we can use to really improve conditions for women. As a member of the government, I pioneered my canton by passing the first Swiss law against domestic violence. As a result, demonstrating quickly lost its importance for me. The thought of going on strike also makes me uncomfortable.

Yet many young people regularly take to the streets. You feel like everything is going wrong and it won’t get any better. There’s a hint of doomsday in the air…
I don’t feel like an apocalypse myself. But it is quite normal for young people to feel this way. Maybe it’s not so bad after all. This sense of urgency drives her to tackle the problems of her generation. And each generation has its own. Mine, for example, was marked by the end of the Cold War and economic crises. That wasn’t little either.

So you still understand the young people who take to the streets, for example during the climate strike or the women’s strike?
Yes, demonstrating is a fundamental right and a freedom! As long as it stays calm and doesn’t break the law. And as long as all opinions are respected.

Don’t you feel sorry for the younger generation? It will face a climate crisis.
If you were to say that to the generation that experienced World War II and is now nearly extinct, people would look at you with suspicion. There have always been challenges. Humanity has repeatedly experienced major crises.

Nevertheless, it is felt that the boomers have left us poisoned gifts and no antidote. At the political level, nothing changes, or only very slowly. Doesn’t it need the urgency that existed with Corona and the war in Ukraine?
The pace of politics is rather slow, you have to admit that. And what you say is true: there was sin in the past. The environment was not really on the agenda. But I also have to defend the generation before me you’re talking about: you worked for prosperity! And the generation before that has lived through the war.

Okay, but that doesn’t solve the climate problem!
When it comes to climate, of course, we need to act and make decisions quickly. But you also have to be realistic: we live in a system of majority democracy. This means that decisions are taken by majority. First in parliament and then by the people. And that is not always easy. For example, you have seen that the CO₂-Law was rejected by the citizens. This means that the Swiss expect less drastic solutions.

So don’t you think a climate emergency plan is justified?
no It is an urgent matter that needs to be addressed urgently and with great attention – and I believe we are doing it. But even if I repeat myself, to have an effective policy you need to find majorities.

Nevertheless, Corona and the war in Ukraine have shown that the federal government is willing to take swift and effective steps if it wants to.
In the fall session, there was a quick and strong signal in favor of solar energy. Because the energy shortage is exacerbating the climate emergency. In reality, however, this measure came at the expense of a degree of protection of nature and the environment. One should not be under any illusions: there is always a balancing of interests. And as far as I’m concerned, you can’t compare the climate with Covid. In the second case, the danger was much more immediate. There was another urgency.

Isn’t this slowness in Switzerland the reason that young people are less likely to vote?
I think there are several reasons that explain this. One of them is actually the one you’re talking about: you find everything a bit annoying and young people have never been patient. I’ve been through this. When I first became interested in politics, I told my brother that I wanted to work at the United Nations to restore world peace. He said maybe I should start with the ward council…

Do you say that to young people? Be realistic, go into politics and change the world step by step?
I don’t really tell them anything because I didn’t like it when my parents lectured me. Young people have to make their own experiences. You just have to get active. Do something specific. To get involved. And don’t forget that it is a privilege to be able to do this in Switzerland. But again: I will never give big lectures to young people, nor do I have to.

Moreover, today’s young people are very politicized.
Yes, I have that feeling too.

But why not take the opportunity to reach young people directly, for example via Instagram or TikTok, to meet younger voters where they spend most of their time?
I might be a bit conservative about that because I’m not even on social media. To me, that’s not the role of a federal councilor. My role is to govern, to decide, to rule.

And not to advertise yourself on the net?
You phrased it aptly. I serve a country, not my image. This is not my job.