Ex-post president prepares return to politics

Politics is back in fashion in French-speaking Switzerland: first, the deposed Geneva State Councilor Pierre Maudet (44) announced his comeback, and now longtime national counselor Claude Béglé (72) is also trying.

Béglé, once chairman of the board of Swiss Post and later national councilor for the then CVP, was voted out in 2019. He remained involved with the Vaud party until he was expelled from the board in April 2021 by the then subdistrict judge Valérie Dittli (29). There was a commotion in the party, then called the centre, and Béglé resigned.

Application for membership at the FDP

Dittli’s goal was to prevent the former post president from running again in the 2023 federal election and thus making room for young people, it has been rumored.

But now the dinosaur could return to the national stage through the back door. And for the FDP. According to information from Blick, Béglé applied a few weeks ago to be admitted to the Vaud Freisinn. His motivation: he wants to go back to the National Council.

Grinding teeth in the FDP

The FDP sees Béglé’s entry, which has not been confirmed, as a windfall or a burden. Behind the scenes there is a tendency to second interpretation. In any case, it is an event: Béglé is a figure in French-speaking Swiss politics. Whether you can call it a voting machine is another matter, they say.

Liberal reservations are compounded by the fact that the former centrist politician has quite a thick skin. In July 2019, a trip to North Korea caused some unrest. Béglé praised the country and its Stalinist regime on social media.

After his return, he defended himself to the press: “These tweets were necessary to gain the confidence of the North Korean regime, but I condemn this dictatorship.” This claim was of little use to him and there was even talk in parliament about a ‘Lex Béglé’.

“I have nothing to say”

Béglé does not want to confirm or deny his membership application to the FDP in Blick. “I have absolutely nothing to say about that,” he says politely. But is he attracted to politics or not? Will he run in the elections in a year’s time? “I’m sorry, but I really have nothing to say,” Béglé said again, wishing you a good day and hanging up.

The hot potato is now in the hands of the FDP. It is not the first contact: before Béglé knocked on the door of the CVP for the 2011 elections, he is said to have not only appealed to the GLP, but also tried to offer himself as a candidate for the FDP, but without success. “Il a fait le tour” was the motto in Vaud at the time.

Or as the “Sonntagszeitung” wrote: “The fired post president is right that every party plays a role in Bern again.” It seems history is repeating itself: Béglé, who had to leave Post President in 2010 due to a secret side job and other inconsistencies, is simply moving to Bern.

Collaboration: Sermîn Faki and Pascal Tischhauser