Faces often speak volumes. That was also the case on election day, when several party chairmen were shocked. After Albert Rösti (55) defeated Hans-Ueli Vogt (53) in the first ballot with 131 votes, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (58) surprisingly won against SP favorite Eva Herzog (60).
Surprised? Very bad, because who knows where the necessary votes came from, with which Baume-Schneider managed to achieve an absolute majority on the third ballot, the world no longer understands.
Many spoke to her
Because actually almost everything spoke against Baume-Schneider. She is from Romandie, but the assignment was to occupy a Swiss-German SP seat. She is a representative of the rural regions, where city dwellers in the Bundesrat are already scarce. And she is from another receiving canton in financial liquidation.
Across from her sat Herzog, who has made a name for himself throughout Switzerland as Basel’s chief financial officer. She is considered assertive, objective and file resistant.
Is “possible” enough?
After Baume-Schneider won by 123 votes, parliament was said to prefer “possible” federal councillors. There’s something about that. “EBS” is a well-positioned Jura. With her sympathetic character, she relegated the stern Herzog, who obtained 116 votes, and the wild candidate Daniel Jositsch (57) to their places. And the fact that the Romands are tied together when it comes to German-speaking Switzerland and that the black-nosed sheepherder had the farmers’ lobby behind him also helped.
But will you get enough votes that way? “Yes, if you count the FDP’s,” says a party strategist. Actually, the Liberals had not wanted to choose a candidate from Western Switzerland. Suddenly Baume-Schneider was acceptable for a transitional period – yes, more than that, according to research by Blick.
Election aid of the FDP
Those who want to help the FDP should vote for Baume-Schneider: party chairman Thierry Burkart (47) made this statement to his parliamentary group on the morning of the Bundesrat elections, liberals say. Not having a German-Swiss representation in the Bundesrat and not having a city dweller like Herzog from Basel is, according to the reasoning, a shame for the SP.
Burkart contradicts this – and at the same time confirms the statement. “That’s not true,” says the leader. He said three things: “First, that everyone is free to make his choice and follow his beliefs. Second, that we must choose from the official candidates and not wild candidates.”
And third, he had shown the consequences of Herzog’s and Mrs. Baume-Schneider’s choice. “I showed, among other things, that two SP representatives from Romandie were not favorable to the social democrats.” This is not a recommendation, but an estimate, according to Burkart.
It is clear that liberals still regard the third proposition as a recommendation.
Keller-Sutter would be behind it
Rumor has it that Karin Keller-Sutter (58) is behind this ‘assessment’. Burkart’s closeness to the FDP federal councilor is no secret. Also that KKSas the Sankt Gallen is called, absolutely wants to transfer to the Finance Department (EFD), is known.
And that’s why no former CFO like Herzog was allowed to serve on the Federal Council. Most importantly, Keller-Sutter didn’t want Herzog in government because she didn’t want another strong woman to challenge her leadership position on the committee. That’s what several people say who should know.
Party leaders appalled
Now it is less surprising that Baume-Schneider won the race. And Burkart was beaming all over his face after the election. Almost as the only party chairman: not only the SP leaders Mattea Meyer (35) and Cédric Wermuth (36) had the disappointment written on their faces after the Jura coup, also the middle president Gerhard Pfister (60) from the donor canton of Zug and the rest GLP boss Jürg Grossen (53), who was always in a good mood, was depressed.
The stakes of the FDP were high, as they publicly opposed a French candidate before the election. The fact that she has now helped him to his office damages the party’s credibility. The fact that the business party is involved against the representative of an urban economic engine and donor canton should also cause damage. In any case, the frustration in Basel is enormous.
It remains to be seen whether the maneuver is worth it
Whether the FDP maneuver was worth it remains to be seen. Because Elisabeth Baume-Schneider could enchant the public in office as much as the parliamentarians in the hearings. At least Meyer and Wermuth can take comfort in the fact that they now have a federal councilor who is almost sympathetic mother of the country. But: as the case of Doris Leuthard (59) shows, it does little for a party if its federal councilor is popular. In any case, the CVP (today in the center) could hardly profit from Leuthard’s popularity.
People prefer a strong Bundesrat that shapes the government. And Grossen and Pfister would also like to have someone in government to take on Karin Keller-Sutter.