One vote made all the difference. Ironically, Roger Köppel (57), SVP National Councilor and chair of the “EU-No” committee, was absent last June when the National Council voted on a controversial European policy initiative. The great room said yes – if Köppel had been there, the advance would have been off the table.
Rarely does a mood come so close. But Köppel’s absence is a regular occurrence. Blick has evaluated which MPs have been most absent from the Council since the 2019 election. From 2015 to 2019, Köppel is the truant number 1. The editor-in-chief of the “Weltwoche” missed about every fifth vote in the National Council. In the past three years, he has been absent for no reason for 21 days, which corresponds to 13 percent of the meeting time.
GLP and Mitte politicians are the most absent
Former BDP chairman Martin Landolt (54) was also often absent. De Glarner missed 744 of 3925 votes – almost as many as Köppel. Martin Bäumle (58) and Solothurn Center Member of Parliament Stefan Müller-Altermatt (46) also have a very high absenteeism rate of over 18 percent.
Voting discipline is particularly weak in the case of incumbent National Councillors. The absenteeism rate is highest in GLP and Mitte, where parliamentarians miss an average of 5.2 and 4.8 percent of the vote respectively. The Greens miss only 2 percent.
“Actually Unjustifiable”
The truant king Köppel did not respond to a request from Blick. In 2019 he justified the many absences with his work for the “Weltwoche”. Unlike some party members who complain about Köppel’s absence behind closed doors, he sees no problem with that. “I am not an Araldite politician who will sit in the chair to collect attendance fees,” he told the Sunday newspaper in 2019.
Martin Landolt also argues that the work of a parliamentarian includes more important matters than pressing the voting button – for example, the work of the Commission.
The evaluation of the voting behavior of the National Councilors is based on Parliament’s voting database. All votes during the regular sessions of the current legislature have been taken into account, i.e. since the winter of 2019. The winter session of 2022, which recently ended, could not yet be included. National councilors who serve less than four terms on the council are excluded from the evaluation.
The evaluation of the voting behavior of the National Councilors is based on Parliament’s voting database. All votes during the regular sessions of the current legislature have been taken into account, i.e. since the winter of 2019. The winter session of 2022, which recently ended, could not yet be included. National councilors who serve less than four terms on the council are excluded from the evaluation.
Middle National Councilor Müller-Altermatt is more self-critical. Such a high percentage of absenteeism is ‘actually unjustifiable’, he says. “I would have been so glad it was deeper.” Unfortunately, due to the birth of his fifth child and illnesses in the family, it was often no longer possible to be there.
For GLP colleague Bäumle, the office as a municipal councilor in Dübendorf ZH is now the reason for the many absences in Bern. “There are conflicting agreements – and then I have to prioritize,” he says. In addition, he does not always run to the chamber of the National Council to vote, for example, when meeting with guests in the Federal Palace. But: “When it comes to central matters or when things can get tight, I vote of course.”
Who is absent most often without an excuse?
It must be said: a voice is quickly missed. It is not uncommon for the National Council to vote dozens of times in one day. By the way: if you don’t show up at all at the Federal Palace one day, you don’t get the attendance fees of 440 francs per day. Unless you are changed – due to illness, accident or maternity leave.
The Parliamentary Services also keep track of these full day absences. In addition to Köppel taking first place on the list of unauthorized truants, second and third places are also taken by members of the SVP parliamentary group. Lorenzo Quadri (48) from Ticino and Yvette Estermann (55) from Lucerne each missed eleven days without excuse. Both claim to have been ill, but did not report it.
Certain voices are “a waste of time”
In general, however, the National Councilors are very conscientious. Almost three-quarters of the National Councilors were never absent for no reason. In the Council of States this is two-thirds. With ten unauthorized absences, Zurich FDP member of the Council of States Ruedi Noser (61) leads the list of absences in the Stöckli, followed by Thurgau Jakob Stark (64, SVP) and Schwyz Othmar Reichmuth (58, center). You justify the absence with professional or political commitments. Noser also says he sometimes skips the final votes on the last day of a session because he considers this a “waste of time”.
Blick could not judge how often the members of the Council of States actually sat on the podium and voted. There are no voting statistics like for the National Council.
Not a single vote was missed
While some parliamentarians excel at absenteeism, there are also the conscientious ones. A handful of National Councilors did not participate in less than 10 of the 3,925 votes considered in the evaluation.
One member of the National Council has not even missed a single vote in the past three years: SVPler David Zuberbühler (43) from Appenzell-Ausserrhoden. He takes his job very seriously, he says. “Voting is one of the most important tasks for us politicians.”
Sophia ReinhardtLeah Hartman
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.
