Marcel Dettling announces his candidacy for SVP President: “The best ideas come to me during milking”

Blick: Mr. Dettling, Switzerland is awaiting your decision. Do you want to become SVP president?
Marcel Dettling: Yes I do! I am running! I have come to this conclusion together with my family and the party.

You canceled four years ago. Did your wife give the green light this time?
Four years ago I would have been alone. This time my wife and children are on board, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to say yes. I was already heavily involved in the party during the election campaign, but the family and the company were still doing well. As president, efforts would increase again, but this time we would have a better idea of ​​what to expect. I don’t want to be a full-time politician, I want to be able to continue farming. My best ideas come out early in the morning during milking! Then you have time and peace to think.

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Who could pose a threat to Dettling?

Your announcement will thin out the field of candidates. The Romans in particular will probably not be happy with a German-speaking Swiss at the top.
I hope not. French-speaking Switzerland is close to my heart. I completed my agricultural apprenticeship and vocational school in Yverdon. The former National Councilor Jean-Pierre Grin was my vocational teacher. Twenty years later we met again in Parliament. So I can communicate in French, even if that is not enough for a television debate.

Geneva National Councilor Céline Amaudruz is in favor of a co-presidency. Will you participate?
Personally, I think you should take responsibility. Therefore, leadership is not divisible. Such a model does not suit the SVP.

The current president, Marco Chiesa, was believed to have little attendance. Will you bring new impetus?
He was often on the road in the cantonal sections and was much more present in western Switzerland. However, I feel the expectation that a new president will have to be more visible in German-speaking Switzerland.

As party leader, would you at least receive a salary?
That’s not important to me. I assume that the costs will be reimbursed and that I will have a personal employee available. That’s enough. As parliamentarians we are far from poor.

It is a grueling job and no wages are paid. Why do you want to do this to yourself?
We discussed this in the family: what’s the point if I’m at home as a father, but the country is going under? Major decisions are in the pipeline, such as the EU Framework Agreement. We must bury this to defend our freedom and our direct democracy.

The unions are skeptical about the EU deal. SVP boss Detling shoulder to shoulder with union boss Pierre-Yves Maillard? A new dream team?
I get along very well with Maillard. But it would be a strange image. (laughs) The unions are important allies. I assume that we do not have to fight the battle alone and that other organizations will join us. If the SVP remains alone, things will become difficult.

The 10 million initiative will be an important topic. Can you pull off the coup?
It is less radical than the restrictions initiative we lost. This time, we plan to take a step-by-step approach to determining when the federal government should intervene over immigration. The development proves that we are right. In 2010, the Federal Council predicted that we would reach nine million inhabitants by 2060! Last year, a net of 100,000 people immigrated. With the associated consequences: too little living space, rising rents, overcrowded trains, busy streets, problems at schools. The initiative has very good prospects.

What are your election goals? After the last election victory, all you can do is lose!
If I thought like that, I wouldn’t be allowed to participate. We didn’t end 2023 well at all. In 2015 we achieved a record result of 29.4 percent. This shows that we still have potential! I mention the issues of safety, education and traffic, not only in the countryside, but also in the cities. More emotions are needed again. We need to focus more on the migration problem.

You have lost your favorite enemy, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider. Beat Jans takes over the Ministry of Justice. He is now responsible for asylum and migration.
It can’t get any worse. Jans is almost a beacon of hope for us. Mrs. Baume-Schneider has not tightened the screw anywhere. But Mr Jans is also not an SVP member. He will pursue left-wing politics. But I hope that the SP will wake up one day. After all, it is their clientele who cannot find affordable housing due to high immigration.

The SVP could have taken over the Ministry of Justice. But it is better received by your voters to go on a wolf hunt.
Unfortunately, we cannot take over every department. We would like to appoint seven federal council members. We are happy that Albert Rösti now ensures that we have a safe and affordable energy supply. He must clean up what SP councilor Simonetta Sommaruga has done.

What share of the vote would you aim for as party leader?
It’s not about voter percentages, it’s about doing the right thing for the Swiss people. Whether it is the asylum chaos or excessive immigration. The most important thing is that Switzerland remains independent and that we decide democratically what we want and what we do not want. So no subordination treaty with the EU. Then we will also win the elections.

What else could the SVP complain about if there were no more asylum seekers coming and they could no longer trample on the alleged asylum chaos?
It would be nice if there were no more asylum chaos. We have been the strongest party for 25 years and have won elections – and votes – on the migration issue. But the latter are not implemented by Parliament, like the deportation initiative or the mass immigration initiative. But we’ll stick with it and get to the heart of the problem: If my basement is flooding, there’s no point in me wiping up a little water with a rag. I have to stop the burglary.

So for you, the SVP would stick to the tried and tested themes?
Of course the urgency still exists! We don’t make the mistake of getting bogged down in too many topics. The fact that we retain almost 30 percent of the votes shows that the population knows what we stand for! And as mentioned, the coming months will increasingly focus on preventing disconnection with the EU affected by the crisis.

You mean the Bilaterals III?
No not at all! It concerns a treaty of subordination, which means precisely the end of bilateral treaties. We should adopt EU law and accept foreign EU judges. That’s why we don’t leave things alone when it comes to migration. If Beat Jans doesn’t get going, we’ll start the border protection initiative. Systematic checks are needed again and we do not want illegal migrants in the country.

So when will you launch the initiative? Mr Jans will hardly introduce border controls.
Unfortunately not. That is why we are launching the border protection initiative this year. The initiative text has been examined by the Federal Chancellery. Everything is ready. But first we submit the 10 million Switzerland initiative. And on March 23, 2024 we will see whether the SVP wants me in charge. One after another.