After 20 years in Federal Bern, National Councilor Walter Wobmann resigns: the SVP-Chrampfer wants to give a “gift” as a farewell

This is opposed by a group led by Green National Councilor Greta Gysin (39, TI) and FDP National Councilor Kurt Fluri (68, SO), who wants to delegate the implementation of the face covering ban to the cantons instead. “This threatens to create an unnecessary patchwork,” says Wobmann angrily. “Even the cantons have made it clear that they want a federal solution.”

After twenty years he quits

It is Wobmann’s last major performance in the Bundeshaus. After twenty years in Bern, he will no longer run in the October elections. The fact that he is fighting so fiercely for a federal solution also has to do with the fact that a circle would close in his last session. He, who launched the burqa initiative and won the referendum, would also be there to seal the implementation law. “It would be my parting gift, so to speak,” says Wobmann.

It wouldn’t be the first time he had reason to celebrate. With concerns that he almost single-handedly brought to the attention of the people: in 2009, the electorate said yes to the minaret initiative with 58 percent, and in 2021 it approved the burqa initiative with 51 percent. In between, Wobmann voted against the 100-franc highway vignette in a referendum and 61 percent voted against it. He made the decision about the latter during a cup of coffee with fellow party member Nadja Umbricht Pieren (43, BE). “It was a great mission,” he laughs.

Lonely fighters and champions

His voting successes cannot be taken for granted. But they say a lot about Wobmann: he is considered a lonely fighter. And as a champion. The Entlebuch resident belongs to the old guard of the SVP, which did a lot of building work in the 1990s. Politicized by the 1992 EEA debate, Wobmann co-founded the local SVP party in his hometown of Gretzenbach SO. He was a municipal councilor and canton councilor before being elected to the National Council in 2003. The typical oxen tour.

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At the start of his career in the Bundestag, Wobmann was considered a backbencher. But he quickly gained national fame as an opponent of Islamism. He wanted to ban Salafist organizations, as well as photos of headscarves in Swiss passports. He had to fight a number of Islamic political battles almost single-handedly, because the party leaders turned their noses up at his ideas and only jumped on the bandwagon when success was in sight. “I was sometimes too early with some suggestions, even within my party,” says Wobmann smugly.

But he does not want to be seen as a ‘Muslim godmother’. “I am not fighting against Islam as a religion, but against political Islam, which attacks our free social order,” he says. He feels a lot of support from moderate Muslims. “I want to prevent the development of Islamic ghettos in Switzerland, as we see in other European countries.”

Against discrimination in motorsport

Transport policy is Wobmann’s second hobbyhorse. Early on, he called for the earmarked use of the auto import tax, which flowed into the federal treasury. The no to the more expensive vignette cleared the way for the establishment of the NAF 2018 road fund, into which the import tax now flows. “With the NAF we have created a solid financing basis,” says Wobmann.

The chairman of the motorcyclists association FMS is also there when he feels “discrimination against motorsport”. For example, when the left asks for speed reductions or sound strobes. A top motorcyclist, he once caused a scandal in the Federal Palace when he posed with his motorcycle for a photo shoot in the hallowed halls of the Federal Palace. An anecdote that he can still laugh about today.

“I am a natural person”

Now he turns his back on Federal Bern. Also with sadness. “My father did active military service for our country and I was politically active at the front – in a war without weapons,” he looks back on his work. He’s not afraid to let go. “I was always on the road, it was a life on the edge,” he says. It’s a good idea to take your foot off the accelerator. “It is also in the interest of my family,” says the married father of three adult children.

Now he has more time for himself, family and friends. In addition to motorcycling – in his youth he was even active in racing – he wants to travel more. “I am a nature person and like to be outside,” he says.

70,000 signatures for neutrality initiative

But he is not letting go of the political accelerator completely. He continues to lead various associations and chairs the Neutrality Initiative Committee, for which signatures are currently being collected.

This is well underway. “We already have more than 70,000 signatures,” says Wobmann. “We will submit the initiative next year.” Then he will soon be ready for the next voting campaign.