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Now the election campaign is getting dirty! In the trade magazine ‘Schweizer Bauer’, an anonymous committee polemically calls for the removal of Bernese farmer and national councilor of the Green Party, Kilian Baumann (42).
It says this brings “only worries and nothing else” for the farming families. It is not stated exactly what decisions or positions the completely unknown committee called “Political Reason” deals with.
The committee only wants Baumann to be able to concentrate on his “farming life in Suberg, without slowing down farming at every session.”
“Throw Baumann out of the race”
“Writing Badertscher’s name twice on every bourgeois-peasant list could knock Baumann out of the race,” the ad says. As a citizen you must vote for Baumann’s green colleague Christine Badertscher (41), says the advertisement, which looks like a conventional article.
Because the Greens could lose a seat in Bern, Baumann would miss out on re-election, according to the thinking behind the recommendation.
Who is behind it?
“I have no idea who is behind the advertisement and the committee,” Baumann told Blick. He suspects ‘right-wing circles’, says the organic farmer. “It amazes me that someone would spend so much money to harm me.”
At the same time, the campaign shows him that he has made a difference with his sustainable agriculture policy. And he also sees something positive in the advertisement: “Our goal is to retain the four green seats in the canton of Bern. It is great if citizens now also vote for Christine Badertscher.”
The ‘Swiss farmer’ does not tell Blick who is behind the campaign. The paid election advertisements have been accepted and classified as paid advertisements. “In principle, everyone is free to recommend themselves or others for the elections,” says publishing director and general manager Simon Langenegger.
Ritter googled to no avail
The chairman of the Swiss Farmers’ Association and national councilor of the Center, Markus Ritter (56), also saw the advertisement in question in the morning while reading the newspaper. As Ritter tells Blick, he also doesn’t know who is behind it. He says he searched the internet for the sender and couldn’t find anything.
It is not up to him to judge whether Baumann brings the farmers ‘just worries and nothing else’, as the advertisement says. “The voters decide who sits in parliament,” Ritter said.
However, the voting battles of the past four years, such as factory farming or the pesticide initiative, have left “more marks than you might think at first glance.” That eats away at people, says Ritter.
Funiciello instead of Badertscher
There are currently several calls circulating among Green Party supporters on social media. They in turn recommend removing Badertscher from the list. There isn’t enough left. Instead, it would be better to give in to SP candidate Tamara Funiciello (33).
Badertscher attracted attention by rejecting the drinking water initiative. Her party colleague Baumann fought hard for it.
Dispute also about SP recommendation
However, the Greens are not the only ones currently in dispute over the election recommendations. There is also a fire in the roof of the Berner SP. According to the “Tages-Anzeiger”, the SP-Migrant:innen Kanton Bern, a subsection of the SP Bern, called for candidates with a migration background to be registered twice. To do this, the candidates without a migration background, Karin Fisli, Maurane Riesen, Andrea Rüfenacht and Manuela Kocher, must be eliminated.
They were anything but enthusiastic about it – Grand Councilor Riesen described the campaign as “very unpleasant and not showing much solidarity”.
A study into the 2015 elections found that candidates with foreign-sounding names were disadvantaged. On the one hand, they are removed from the list more often than candidates with Swiss-sounding surnames, and on the other hand, typical Swiss names are accumulated and varied more often than average.
The board of the SP-Migrant:innen Canton Bern has already withdrawn after criticism of the strike action. He explained in a statement that his only concern was to encourage people with a migrant background to vote. Apologies have been made to the women affected.
Center woman boss called for removal
There was also a call for a string orchestra in the political center. Mitte-Frauen boss Christina Bachmann-Roth (39), who attracted attention with the slogan “my days are coming”, recently advised, according to Tamedia newspapers: “It is best if you cancel everyone before me.” She also apologized.
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.
