SP candidates must go for the people

With a view to the successor of Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62) SP Switzerland has assembled a four-member selection committee from former SP cantonal government members. The committee consists of Liliane Maury-Pasquier (65) from Geneva, Barbara Egger-Jenzer (66) from Berne, Yvonne Schärli (70) from Lucerne and Urs Hofmann (65), former government councilor from Aargau. The party announced this on Friday.

The four members of the selection committee will put the applications to the test to determine their suitability. But they don’t just have to scrutinize the candidates: they also have to undergo public hearings at the same time.

On a promotional tour for the party

Together with the cantonal parties, four events will take place in Lucerne, Lausanne, Zurich and Liestal BL, where the candidates will introduce themselves to SP members and the public.

However, the public appearances have little to do with deciding who ends up on the two-person ticket. Because only the SP party determines this, so the national and district council members of the party. Instead, such high-profile events are held to promote the SP. The FDP was a specialist in this for a long time and sent its candidates through the country on a “roadshow”. In 2018, the Mitte party, then called CVP, also used this method to raise awareness.

Beware of tripping hazard!

But watch out! The candidates can hardly win anything in the public hearings – but they can very well stumble: in 2018, the Uri government councilor Heidi Z’graggen (56, centre) slipped a sentence at such an event, forcing her to abandon her ambitions of the Federal Council abruptly buried.

Not realizing her microphone was still on, she responded to a viewer’s voice with the phrase “Däisch en Depp”. And that was it with the dream of stepping into the Federal Council as successor to Doris Leuthard (59, CVP).

The SP women must be warned. (sf)