Federal Councilor Rustic

The starting position is unusual – at least for the SVP. For the first time since the party rose to prominence in the 1990s, an SVP politician was able to join the Federal Council who is popular within its own ranks and also finds sympathy among other parties.

National councilor Albert Rösti (55) is most likely to succeed Ueli Maurer (71) in the state government. Parliamentarians of all parties appreciate the affable Berner. As it turned out, the friendly Mr. Rösti is also extremely well received by the population. This is apparent from a study that SonntagsBlick conducted in collaboration with research institute Sotomo.

When asked who should succeed Finance Minister Maurer, Rösti waved to the top. In a field of nine candidates, the former party chairman has a high 40 percent. He is the darling of the party base: about half of SVP voters favor the well-connected lobbyist, according to an evaluation. But Rösti is also well received by supporters of the FDP, Mitte and GLP. Even a third of SP voters would like to see him in the Bundesrat.

According to Michael Hermann (50), political geographer and director of Sotomo, this result is remarkable. “Normally these are mutually exclusive: the more popular an SVP candidate is with the other parties, the less popular he is with his own base.” This has been a constant in the SVP’s federal elections for the past 30 years. Since then, when Christoph Blocher (82) consistently led the party to an opposition course – winning election after election.

Will the SVP grow up?

At that time, the election of SVP district councilors was always accompanied by background noise. “The first question was whether the SVP was entitled to a second seat on the federal council,” says Hermann. “Later, the Federal Assembly was faced with the question of whether to choose a candidate who was loyal to the line or a candidate who could reach consensus.” With the election of Samuel Schmid (75), the deselection of Blocher and the election of Guy Parmelin (62), parliament voted against the hardliner candidates – which in turn angered the SVP.

“If the SVP actually sets up Rösti, it could mean the end of that phase,” says Hermann. “The party would have found its place in the concordance.” In other words, the modern SVP would come of age.

It fits into this picture that the only other candidate – until yesterday – Member of Parliament Werner Salzmann (59), finished second in the poll with nine percent, far behind. Or third, 22 percent of those polled, mostly from the left-green camp, would rather not have a second SVP federal councilor at all, but rather have another party’s representative in the state government. Security politician Salzmann is seen as loyal to the line, but at the same time not very charismatic.

Only two percent of those polled spoke out in favor of Zug’s financial director, Heinz Tännler (62), who announced his candidacy yesterday. However, the investigation had already been completed by then.

Rösti likes to be liked

Rösti is also the clear favorite in a direct duel with Salzmann. He has three times as many votes as Salzmann. If you only look at the SVP voters, the picture is almost the same: 66 percent vote for Rösti, 28 percent for Salzmann.

One of the reasons why Rösti is accepted by both the SVP base and the general public is probably his human qualities, Hermann suspects. “He is not a Polteri and not a macho, but tangible as a person.” Some accuse him of his need for harmony: Rösti likes to be liked.

The investigation also reveals who the Swiss do not want to see in the Bundesrat under any circumstances. Group leader Thomas Aeschi (43), who ran without success in 2015, has little sympathy. 56 percent of those polled think that the attacking Zuger does not belong in the Bundesrat.

A significant number of respondents are also skeptical of Esther Friedli (45), national councilor of St. Gallen. She announced on Friday that she would not run for office.

Two thirds is for a woman

National councilor and banker Thomas Matter (56), who, like Aeschi, keeps a low profile and is seen as a hardliner, is also poorly received. Finally, a significant proportion of those surveyed (30 percent) would also not like to see Salzmann in the Bundesrat.

This ranking probably has a lot to do with the fact that a clear majority of the population places more importance on the ability to reach consensus than on the extent to which a candidate represents the party line. A look at the SVP’s electorate is also interesting here: the votes for the ability to compromise (47 percent) and those for loyalty to the party line (53 percent) are almost balanced. The consistent opposition policy is not only received with enthusiasm within the party.

And what does the population think of the women’s demand? Does she think that the People’s Party should nominate a woman, as ex-party leader Toni Brunner (48) asked? About two-thirds of the survey participants say yes. Even within the SVP, a significant minority of 40 percent are in favor of female candidates, while 44 percent think this is unnecessary.

At the moment, however, it doesn’t look like this scenario will materialize – the real-time candidates have all fallen out: in addition to Friedli, Zurich government councilor Natalie Rickli (45) and national councilor Magdalena Martullo-Blocher (53) are also without . So it will probably take some time before the first SVP Federal Councilor is elected.