Nobody went swimming in the Neubad

Daniel Balmer and Ruedi Studer

“Danger of Falling!” warns a poster in the Neubad culture center in Lucerne. The hint actually only applies to glasses that are too close to the edge of the pool in the former indoor pool.

But this time the warning also applies to the three SP candidates who are competing for the succession of Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62). In Neubad, the two state councilors Eva Herzog (60, BS) and Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (58, JU) and the Bernese government councilor Evi Allemann (44) stood for the first public hearing on Monday evening. First of all: for the 200 or so guests, none of them started swimming.

“I’m very good”

As moderator, Luzern SP chairman David Roth (37) wanted to be on the safe side and asked the three candidates about extravagant hobbies such as private aviation – alluding to Federal Councilor Alain Berset (50), who had even been a pilot in France as a soldier. an airpolice operation launched.

But the women’s trio managed to calm down the former chairman of Juso: Baume-Schneider likes to cook and knit, Herzog is in a women’s cycling group. The risk of negative headlines is small. Allemann also assured: “I’m very good.”

Rarely minor nuances

Then came the hard political stuff. The three women largely remained faithful to the social-democratic recipes. They want to counter the loss of purchasing power with an inflation adjustment for wages and pensions. Make rapid progress on climate policy and gender equality.

Only rarely were there minor nuances. Allemann came out as an advocate of wind energy. Baume-Schneider was notable for being callous to her civilian colleagues in the Council of States. In social policy, the Chambre de réfléxion becomes the Chambre d’obsession de la droite. And Herzog made it clear regarding equality: “If progress is too slow, I’m for quotas.”

Restart for framework agreement

A hot potato is the restart of a framework agreement with the EU. Everyone wants a fresh start, but Baume-Schneider wants to take a little more time with the pace to ensure wage protection. Herzog steps on the accelerator: “A solution must be found quickly.” Although she does not believe that there will be a better solution. Allemann wants to continue the institutional issues with “high pressure”, otherwise EEA or EU accession would ultimately be the only alternative.

All three had a keen interest in politics – and a desire to hold the highest political office in the country. But what would you respect most if you were elected on December 7?

For the great responsibility, Allemann said. It is no different for Herzog. The decisions in the Bundesrat would have far-reaching consequences and affect many people. “And then you can’t hide as well as in parliament, where there are many more people.”

The SP could already claim at least one success for the Bundesrat elections: never before have conservative politicians been so interested in equality as during the discussions about an all-female women’s ticket with the Social Democrats, Roth mocked.