Of all people, the one who was once voted out breaks the taboo: Blocher brings wild Federal Council candidates into play

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He is now 83 years old. Many people think: Christoph Blocher says, even at this old age, where things are going in the SVP. Others doubt whether the former party mastermind still has the same power he once had. But he has helpers.

There is the political foster son Toni Brunner (49). In many ways he is the exact opposite of Blocher’s daughter Magdalena Martullo (54). Brunner, although younger, has already completed his political career. It is believed that Martullo will one day become a federal councilor.

Brunner is social, Martullo is decisive. Everyone loves Brunner, he is always smiling from ear to ear. Martullo is formidable, but not friendly. But with her you know where you stand. You can’t always say that with Brunner. He’s a villain.

Toggenburg farmer in Bellevue

So you might not really believe that Brunner is actually out of politics. In his canton of St. Gallen, it is said that Toni Brunner is still pulling the strings at the SVP.

And in the Hotel Bellevue in Bern you often see the down-to-earth farmer and Toggenburg innkeeper together with Christoph Blocher and other confidants. There they hatched the SVP’s strategy together, say representatives of other parties.

No wonder that all of Bern listens attentively when Blocher announces something important again. In episode 848 of the video series Teleblocher, Christoph Blocher breaks a taboo: the politician who was voted out of office as a Federal Councilor does not think it is absurd to choose a wild SP candidate for the Federal Council.

A “provocation”

However, the SVP alone in the Federal Assembly does not have the power to elect a federal councilor. She needs allies. However: the FDP and the Center Party say they will not vote out any sitting federal council members.

“There is never as much lying in politics as there is in the elections for the Federal Council,” says Blocher. But it would be difficult to argue after the election of a wild candidate that he has done the opposite of what was previously promised so often and so clearly. The SVP has also emphasized several times that it will not vote anyone out and will respect the SP’s ticket.

Now Blocher emphasizes what many before him have said: neither Beat Jans (59) nor Jon Pult (39) from the SP’s official two-person ticket can be elected. Blocher even describes the ticket as a “provocation”. When Blocher says that, it carries more weight.

The SVP thought leader Blocher recommends contacting the SP and asking them to bring a third candidate. And rightly so: even a wild SP candidate is no longer a no-go. This also happened to Otto Stich (1927–2012) and Willi Ritschard (1918–1983). Blocher notes that the two were not the worst councilors, not even for the SP.

But not ‘boring’?

Center faction leader Philipp Matthias Bregy (45) also says in the ‘SonntagsZeitung’ that “it cannot be the case that if a wild candidate is elected, a threat of a national crisis arises.” But at the same time he faces the prospect that the Federal Council elections on December 13 will be “completely boring” – that is, someone will be elected from the SP ticket.

Or not? Bellevue will once again be at the center of events during the “Night of the Long Knives” on the eve of the elections. While political observers, minor politicians and journalists celebrate downstairs, bourgeois party strategists upstairs can be convinced by Blocher or his emissaries to choose a wild candidate.

Many people in Zurich like to see Daniel Jositsch (58) here. But Jositsch does not appear to be Blocher’s first choice. Like Mitte President Gerhard Pfister (61), Jositsch simply wants to become too much of a federal councilor in the eyes of Blocher. That makes him suspicious.

Burkart wants to sit on the Federal Council

The party leaders around Mitte-Pfister and FDP leader Thierry Burkart (48) should at least listen to what Blocher suggests. Ultimately, Pfister wants a second seat on the Federal Council in the long term – and would like to occupy one himself. And Burkart does not want to give up the second seat if possible. A difficult starting point.

It would probably be good if Toni Brunner would create a good atmosphere in Bellevue again.

Source:Blick