Introverted, distant, cerebral. These adjectives are heard by those who ask about the characteristics of Hans-Ueli Vogt (52). But also: pleasant, sensitive, brilliant.
The surprising Federal Council candidate of the SVP and challenger to crown favorite Albert Rösti (55) is not really tangible to the public. That’s why the media likes to use another adjective: “colorful”.
The Zurich law professor takes it easy: “If you understand colorful as different facets that you don’t normally associate with each other – city people, scientists and SVPler – I just take note.”
Homosexuality provokes reactions
Whereby ‘colorful’ also means: gay. Vogt is the first Federal Council candidate who makes no secret of his homosexuality. What shouldn’t matter in the 21st century, but provokes reactions. That earns him points with the Left Party, unknowable party members who are not among Vogt’s friends.
Helene Fischer’s fan is “politically not gay enough,” refutes the left, which does not understand why a member of a minority ends up with the agitator SVP and does not work as a gay rights activist.
It doesn’t fit in any drawer
There is much atypical about Hans-Ueli Vogt.
Politics was not a problem at home in Illnau ZH, where he grew up as the second of three sons of a notary and a housewife. He has been fascinated by Bundesbern since Vogt watched the SRF program “Café Fédéral” with his mother as a child, where figures such as Helmut Hubacher (1926-2020) and Moritz Leuenberger (76) debated at transparent glass tables. However, Vogt did not join the SVP until age 38. Because only then did he want to get involved politically. After six years in the National Council, however, he had had enough.
Vogt can work tirelessly for human rights. Such as with the Corporate Responsibility Initiative, which wanted to oblige Swiss companies to observe human rights abroad. Vogt wanted to persuade the initiators to withdraw with a counter-proposal. And on the other hand, to develop the radical self-determination initiative that would undermine human rights.
He is considered to be a rational protagonist and can still react very emotionally, as evidenced by an incident in the National Council’s legal commission, which ended in tears in 2018 when Vogt was attacked en masse by friends and detractors.
Vogt is elusive. Some say unpredictable. Should such a person be elected to the Bundesrat?
Middle man is courting him
If you ask Obwalden’s former councilor Karl Vogler (66), the United Federal Assembly should definitely vote for Vogt: “Yes, he is an SVPler, but as a scientist he bases himself on facts. And he is an absolutely brilliant lawyer – I can don’t say otherwise.”
Vogler, who politicized in the leftist Christian Social Party, worked closely with Vogt on the counter-proposal to the Responsible Business Initiative. His strong leadership personality “would only serve the Federal Council well,” he says. And: “It is easier to compromise with Hans-Ueli than with Albert.”
Vogt is not interested in power
Vogt is a factual, not a power politician, others say. And Vogt himself? Power is important to create majorities to achieve political goals. But power means nothing to him personally. “It won’t stay with me.” Power would lead to a more arrogant attitude in some people, he says. Not with him. “I am the Hans-Ueli Vogt I have always been.”
Blick: Are you a morning person or an evening person?
Hans-Ueli Vogt: A day person.
Where do you get the best ideas from?
When brushing my teeth and when I take a break from concentrated work.
How do you recover from a stressful, boring day?
By listening to music at home and reading something irrelevant, for example about fitness or interior design.
What did you want to be as a child?
First a baker, then a TV announcer, then a teacher.
How did you earn your first money?
In the Volg in Illnau at the box office was 5 francs per hour.
What’s your superpower?
I can recover on command.
What chores do you do around the house?
Everything, because I live alone.
What do you always fail at?
(thinks for a long time) I can’t think of anything that I wouldn’t say I succeed at everything.
What’s your favorite food?
i like asian food
What’s your secret vice?
I smoke an occasional cigarette, maybe two a day.
Where, other than Switzerland, would you like to live?
In the US, maybe in Florida, where it’s warm and the sun is shining.
Blick: Are you a morning person or an evening person?
Hans-Ueli Vogt: A day person.
Where do you get the best ideas from?
When brushing my teeth and when I take a break from concentrated work.
How do you recover from a stressful, boring day?
By listening to music at home and reading something irrelevant, for example about fitness or interior design.
What did you want to be as a child?
First a baker, then a TV announcer, then a teacher.
How did you earn your first money?
In the Volg in Illnau at the box office was 5 francs per hour.
What’s your superpower?
I can recover on command.
What chores do you do around the house?
Everything, because I live alone.
What do you always fail at?
(thinks for a long time) I can’t think of anything that I wouldn’t say I succeed at everything.
What’s your favorite food?
i like asian food
What’s your secret vice?
I smoke an occasional cigarette, maybe two a day.
Where, other than Switzerland, would you like to live?
In the US, maybe in Florida, where it’s warm and the sun is shining.
Power may mean nothing to him, but hierarchy does. “I believe that leadership has to do with a clear hierarchy,” he says. Even though everyone talks about flat hierarchies and networks, in reality organizations would find their way back to stronger hierarchies, at the latest when they come under pressure. “Someone has to define goals, areas of responsibility, tasks and timeframes and implement decisions.” Here the senior lieutenant penetrates.
He rests within himself
But when asked if he would take the principle of collegiality as relaxed as the retiring Ueli Maurer (71), Vogt made it clear that he ran like a team player. “For me, collegiality is central”, even if it is a tightrope walk: “You are on a committee and at the same time you are not allowed to deny your points of view.”
Vogt seems to be at peace, quite sure of himself. Coming out at 19, he says, didn’t bother him. “It was just another facet of myself.” And after talking to former federal councilors and those around him, he is now certain: “You determine how much the office costs you. There is room for different personalities.”
Sermin Faki
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
