“We haven’t all understood that yet,” he said in his last interview as a member of the Federal Council in the Saturday edition of the NZZ. There are subjects, such as the EU issue, on which the SSP must not give in. “But then there are also subjects where the SVP should not necessarily strive for the maximum, but the optimum together with others,” he says.
The NZZ spoke to Maurer about the fact that the party had become “more uncompromising and dogmatic” under him as party chairman. At the end of his political career, he now demands more pragmatism. Mauer replied that even as party chairman he had pushed for consensus.
“It’s a long road, and it also needs new minds,” he said. If a party keeps sounding the alarm, it loses its impact. The SVP needs a new positive story.
Albert Rösti was elected to the Federal Council in December as the new head of the SVP. He will be head of the Environment and Energy Department. Maurer handed over the finance department to FDP federal councilor Karin Keller-Sutter. (SDA)