“Federal Council is not a titanic work”

On December 7, the parliament will elect two new federal councilors. You act in times of crisis – there is a threat of an energy shortage, a war is raging on European soil. Pascal Couchepin (80) polarized as a federal councilor, but the dominant statesman always kept a cool head in crises. SonntagsBlick visited his home in Martigny USA and spoke with him about the compatibility of the job and family of the Federal Council, the by-election and governance in times of crisis.

Sunday view: Mr. Couchepin, you are an animal policy. What news from Bundesbern are you itching for?

Pascal Couchepin: I am still very interested in politics, I analyze the situation and make predictions. I’m keeping it to myself, because a former federal councilor shouldn’t have any influence. But if you ask me what a good federal councilor is, I’ll give you an answer.

So we ask: What makes a good federal councilor?
He has two tasks: he is head of his department and a member of the board. He must have the necessary qualities for both.

And which one would that be?
Team spirit! He must gain the trust of his colleagues. This means not agreeing, but the ability to compromise – give, take. As a department head you should not get lost in the details, you have to give your employees a lot of freedom. Some federal councilors are involved in micromanagement. That’s wrong. The administration in Berne works very well and is loyal.

The elections for the Federal Council are on December 7. What advice would you give the candidates?
Anyone who wants to participate needs to know this internally and prepare for a while: networking in parliament, showing presence, showing broad interest.

What skills are needed?
You have experience as a manager, as an alderman or mayor. Because politics works differently from the economy: there are many more stakeholders. You can’t just decide, you have to learn to give in and be right another time.

You are one of the few who has always been open about their ambitions for the Federal Council. Most are shy. What’s more promising?
I decided early in life to always say what’s on my mind. My experience: People appreciate openness, even if they have a different opinion. As for the Bundesrat: Yes, I had ambitions, but I was not fixated on them.

Let’s talk about the elections: the Greens are not participating. Should they have seized the opportunity?
The Greens are not entitled to a seat on the Federal Council. To justify this, they add up their own percentages and those of the Green Liberals. But these are two different parties. Conservatives don’t just add up the voter percentages of all parties.

The SP wants an all-women ticket. Is that the consequent advancement of women – or discrimination against men?
The SP will have difficulty with good male candidates such as the Zurich Council of States Daniel Jositsch, who has now applied after all. The more interesting question is what would happen if Parliament elected a man. Will the SP, like the SVP, force unofficial candidates to reject an election? That would be alarming!

How so?
Parliament must be free to choose who it wants. I think it is bad form to make candidates promise not to vote if they are not on the ticket. This is not healthy for democracy and goes against the spirit of the consociational system.

This has been the case for years in the SVP. Albert Rösti recently had to admit and publicly promise that he would not accept a wild choice.
That surprised me. I expected him to say that he would respect Parliament’s decision.

The SP leadership would like a young mother to succeed Simonetta Sommaruga. That sparked a debate: Does a federal councilor still have a private life?
Now it’s much exaggerated. I like to sleep well. Even as a member of the Federal Council, I often went to bed early, sometimes I would just wake up in the middle of the night because I had an idea. This was often the most productive time. Federal Council is not a titanic job. It’s tiring, but doable. During my eleven years, I was only sick for one afternoon.

They have three children. How did that work alongside the Federal Council Office?
When I now look at my three children and eleven grandchildren, I realize: the upbringing has been successful. This is largely due to my wife, but I also played my part.

Did you have time for your family?
Yes of course. A federal councilor is also on vacation, two weeks in the summer and during the holidays. At Easter I always went on a trip with my children. And on Sundays I didn’t participate in events and was always there for my family.

And time for yourself?
After the Federal Council meeting on Wednesday, I went for lunch with the others. Immediately afterwards my driver drove me to Wallis. Then I walked alone from here in Martigny to my chalet in Chemis and analyzed the session: what went well, what didn’t? The driver was waiting upstairs with a plum pie. We ate it together on the terrace of the chalet, after which we returned to Bern with renewed vigor.

What is the hardest thing about the office?
Get to know the files in the beginning and see what is possible and what is not. Then you have to find out who you can trust in the administration, as a person and as a professional. If you have experience working with people, you are quickly integrated.

How many have you been charged with personal attacks?
I don’t feel like I’ve been through a lot. Or I quickly forgot them. If you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t join the Federal Council.

Were the eleven years in the Federal Council the happiest time of your life?
What is the best time of a life? For eleven years you can’t always be happy whether you’re in the Bundesrat or not. It was definitely the most intense time of my life – and the times of crisis were the most exciting. J’aime les crises! Those are the times when you go to bed early and wake up in the middle of the night with ideas.

When Swissair was grounded in 2001, you were Minister of Economy and Federal President in 2008 when UBS had to be rescued. What are your lessons from the crisis?
Two things are most important: first, you have to listen to the science and second, you have to be well prepared.

Please provide an example.
My first crisis was mad cow disease. At the time, Coop and Migros wanted to test all cows over the age of 18 months at the expense of the state — though science said tests didn’t make sense until 30 months. So I declined. The shopkeepers protested and other federal councilors wanted to withdraw. I remained stubborn. In the end it all worked out, no one died of the disease.

And the proper preparation?
That was a lesson from the grounding of Swissair, where little had been prepared. It was different during the financial crisis: we had already made clear who would be responsible if a bank got into trouble – although it was unthinkable at the time that this would happen. When UBS then had a problem, the responsibilities were clarified. All I had to do was find a majority in the Federal Council for the solution.

Even today there is no shortage of crises: pandemics, war, lack of energy, inflation – we live in crazy times.
Today it is no different than before. I was born during the Second World War. Then came one crisis after another: cold war, communism in parts of Europe, Korean war, war in Vietnam, uprising in Budapest, refugee flows, the collapse of the socialist dream. When you are in the middle of a crisis, you always have the impression that this crisis is unique. The story allows you to place yourself in a longer period of time. Then you see: Crises are the normal state of humanity.

Where does your unrelenting optimism come from?
I built it up. It wasn’t easy when I was young: my father died early, many people around me died and I didn’t have enough money. I then said to myself: I can only build something with a lot of willpower and optimism.

How important is your faith?
To that I can say the following: I believe that I have a future – and I believe that my country has a future. But I suspect that optimism is more a matter of character. Some people always see the positive first, others the negative.

Are you also optimistic about your party, the FDP?
According to the polls, the FDP will win easily.

Although it is not your party line that represents the new President Thierry Burkart: clearly anti-statistic, clearly bourgeois liberal.
I have only met Thierry Burkart once and I must say he is a positive discovery. You can argue with him and he has a sense of humor. That’s important because it means he’s not a fanatic. The FDP has good chances with him. I do not agree with his position on the EU Framework Treaty, but that is not crucial.

A little pro-European, a little statistical, but liberal – does the Couchepin FDP still exist?
Not a couchepin FDP, but a moderate FDP looking for solutions that have the big picture in mind and not just self-interest. This is the FDP that Switzerland created. That is also the role of the FDP today.

You spoke recently in the “NSZ” about your own abdication and said that there should be a procession around the main square in Martigny, with all the fanfare. What is the reason?
I have changed my mind! My kids will have to decide that one day. But you know what I want. If they don’t want that, that’s fine too. You die alone, but you are not the first to die. There are millions of people who died before me with the same beliefs. So I’m one of the others. That is why I want to show with a traditional funeral service that it is not a special event. One person disappears, others come, the world keeps spinning.