“Neither left nor right”: how the small party from Geneva, MCG, wants to shake up Bern

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Everyone around him jumps up, but Mauro Poggia (64) remains calm. Just clench your fist, then stand up and hug your fellow warriors. His Mouvement citoyens genevois (MCG) won two seats in the National Council on Sunday, while Poggia himself took first place in the battle for the Council of States. For the previous two Lisa Mazzone (35, Greens) and Carlo Sommaruga (64, SP).

A special Genevan artist is moving to Bern with the MCG. It considers itself an anti-establishment party and prefers to rail against border crossings. “Young people at the end of their education cannot find work because companies prefer to hire foreign workers with experience.” A typical SVP slogan.

They are neither left nor right, Poggia himself says: “We are where the solution lies.” And actually there is the other side of Mauro Poggia. He was already a CVP member, and in 2017, together with current union boss Pierre-Yves Maillard (55, SP), he collected signatures for a single health insurance fund and wanted to chase health lobbyists from parliament. During the corona pandemic, he railed against opponents of vaccination. And because Uber doesn’t pay its drivers social benefits, he quickly banned it. It was only finally lifted in March when Uber paid outstanding wages.

Now you can’t do it alone anymore

Poggia’s style is populist, his statements are harsh, he does not mince his words. He is “used to people’s stupidity,” he said, for example, in a recent Blick interview, following the calls when his election was announced.

Now he wants to be in the Council of States. There’s a different tone there. No problem for Poggia. “I served in the Geneva government for ten years and can adapt my style.” To add: “If I answer the same thing three times to someone who writes nonsense and he persists, then that is no longer a mistake, but stupidity or bad faith.”

Poggia has been in Bern as a national councilor for two years. At the time – completely anti-establishment – ​​with no faction behind it. But this is important to actually make a political difference. Now he wants to join one. “I learned that you need a parliamentary group to achieve results,” he explains the change of heart. He does not want to say which party he wants to become a member of.

Where is Poggia going?

Poggia is said to have few similarities with the SVP, although he is participating in the election campaign of the Council of States together with Céline Amaudruz (44). The differences with the SVP are large, especially when it comes to health policy. “Zurich government councilor Natalie Rickli also represented other positions in Zurich during the pandemic and she was not ostracized.”

There is a lot of speculation in Bern about where Poggia will go. The center party is also conceivable, or even that the new MCG parliamentarians will be divided among different factions.

Grünen-Mazzone must tremble

For Lisa Mazzone, the current state councilor, it is clear where Poggia should be classified. “He was elected in a right-wing alliance of SVP, FDP and Center. Apart from health policy, he does not represent left-wing views; the MCG works closely with the SVP.”

The second round of voting will take place in Geneva in just three weeks. The difference between the three candidates Poggia, Mazzone and Sommaruga is only about a thousand votes. It will then be decided whether the MCG delegation will increase even further – and whether Poggia can clench his fist a second time.

Source:Blick