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For the first time, political actors must make their campaign budgets public in the current national elections. Anyone using more than 50,000 francs must report the figures to the Federal Audit Office. The names of persons or organizations that donate more than 15,000 francs must also be made public.
This article was first published in the “Observer”. You can find more exciting articles at www.beobachter.ch.
This article was first published in the “Observer”. You can find more exciting articles at www.beobachter.ch.
In reality, the disclosure system is much more complicated. The regulation gives political actors some leeway not to declare donations. The simplest option: an election committee connects a protective association between the donor and the campaign. So only the amount that the protective association pays appears in the campaign. Anyone who transfers money to the Benefactors Association is not registered – and remains in the dark.
Donors, supporters, friends
There are a number of such arrangements, as evidenced by the data published by the Financial Control. For example, the “Club Bürgerliche 100 SVP AG” (supports the SVP Aargau campaign with 100,000 francs), the “Churfirsten-Club SVP SG” (pays 20,000 francs for the SVP St. Gallen campaign) or the “Donors Association FDP Lucerne” ( 20,000 francs for the cantonal FDP campaign).
For others, it only becomes clear at second glance who benefits from the association’s money. For example, the “Association for Civil Politics in the Canton of Zug” does not support FDP or centrist people with 95,000 francs, but only the 18 candidates from the SVP Canton of Zug. It is not known where the money comes from.
Comparable to the “Association for Solution-oriented Politics”. He exclusively supports the national councilor of the Basel center Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter – with 120,000 francs. According to a report from SRF, Schneider-Schneiter founded the association himself. The centrist National Councilor told SRF: “I adhere to the laws and transparency rules. Everything is correct.” Schneider-Schneiter, who is also chairman of the Board of Directors of Raiffeisenbank Basel, announced a donation of 20,000 francs from the bank – outside its donation association.
Double nested
The FDP in the canton of Schwyz has a double structure: a support association also has a support association itself. The association “Suite 1833” calls itself the “Support Association of the Friends of the FDP of the Canton of Schwyz” and was founded 40 years ago. The association “Friends of the FDP” is in turn the de facto fundraising instrument for the cantonal FDP. However, according to the documents submitted to financial control, “Suito 1833” transferred the donations of 54,000 francs directly to the FDP campaign of Canton Schwyz.
The patrons’ association of the SVP canton of Bern calls itself the “Bear Club” and is financing the campaign of SVP State Councilor Werner Salzmann with 30,000 francs. The SVP Canton of Bern also receives the same amount for its campaign. The donors of the “Bear Club” are also in the dark.
“Now we just do it this way”
The club chairman is Bern councilor Thomas Fuchs. He showed his aversion to transparency in the spring of 2023 when he took control of a vote in the city of Bern on parking fees. In Bern, donations of more than 5,000 francs must be made public due to similar transparency rules. Within a few days, Thomas Fuchs’ committee reported three donations to the city chancellery, each amounting to CHF 4,999.50. This meant that the donors remained secret. Fuchs openly admits that his goal is to circumvent transparency rules: “That’s exactly how we do it,” he told the “Observer” at the time.
The Financial Control Department has published the parties’ and candidates’ reports on its website, but the data is difficult to search. That is why research collective WAV has set up a platform to make financial audit reports accessible. Every interested party can see for themselves which candidates and which parties use donation vehicles.
“There are too many holes in the new legislation,” says journalist Balz Oertli of research collective WAV. “It is clear: donor, patron and other support associations are there to conceal the origin of the donors.”
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.
