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It was the end of a nationally known friendship. The liberal alpha animals Doris Fiala (66) and Christa Markwalder (48) publicly broke up with each other. The low point was Markwalder’s change in parliament, which meant he no longer had to sit next to her colleague from Zurich. SonntagsBlick reported on the incident in March. The two have since resigned from the National Council, and yet observers still wonder how this rift came about.
Now the final piece of the puzzle is revealed: a bizarre money dispute between Fiala and Markwalder’s husband Peter Grünenfelder (56), now chairman of the car importers association Auto-Zwitserland. In February he applied for a seat on the Zurich government council for the FDP. One of his supporters at the time was Fiala. What happened next has been interpreted in different ways: did she walk in without asking or was it initially a verbally agreed collaboration?
Grünefelder let the case fall apart
In any case, Fiala’s PR agency created a concept for Grünenfelder for the hot phase of the election campaign – according to reports, the plan included a series of events with such calibers as SRF correspondent Luzia Tschirky (33), army chief Thomas Süssli (57) and ETH President Joel Mesot (59).
But Grünenfelder let the matter pass. Whether because of different strategic views or for financial reasons – the representations of the two camps differ widely here. Fiala then sent him an invoice for her expenses amounting to a five-figure sum. However, he refused to pay because he was not using the service.
Both remain silent about the details to SonntagsBlick. Grünenfelder’s environment emphasizes that there was neither a contract nor a formal assignment. However, Fiala’s team points to a verbal agreement.
Since then there has been silence
From then on there was an ice age between the former close friends and companions: Fiala sent a written warning, Grünenfelder responded with a legal proposal. The two sides then dropped the matter.
Fiala lacked any other legal basis, say confidants of ‘Grüni’. On principle, she does not do party work anyway, others add.
Since then we have been ‘not on speaking terms’.
It is unpleasant that the relationship ends this way. After all, people used to fight together for a connection with Europe and even showed harmony on Swiss television. All three can undoubtedly demonstrate political merit.
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.
