“I never wanted to be bought”

class=”sc-3778e872-0 cKDKQr”>

Another black day for the Swiss Red Cross (SRK). One million – that is what the recalled ex-director Markus Mader (59) demands in the eyes of the SRK, so that “calm immediately returns” to the organization. Blick reported this on Tuesday.

In an email dated March 24, 2023, Mader SRK Chairman Barbara Schmid-Federer, 57, suggested how his resignation should be handled financially. In it, he suggested continuing to work as a consultant with an 80 percent workload – for 80 percent of his current salary of about CHF 250,000.

The SRC viewed this application as a “golden parachute” worth “one million Swiss francs” paid for by taxpayer donations and money.

Mader sent a written statement to his “friends and colleagues of the Red Cross family” on Tuesday. He never asked for one franc in damages from the SRC, apart from the contribution of 10,000 to his legal costs, he writes. However, all this now seems to be definitely off the table, he fears. Mader further writes that the Blick article makes him sad, but fits the picture.

Research should bring clarity

He had been expecting such an attack for some time, Mader continues. Reason: The SRK chairman Barbara Schmid-Federer (57) and the other members of the Red Cross Council ran out of arguments, “if there ever were any”.

Mader is pinning his hopes on the external, independent investigative report that the SRC’s Audit Committee (GPK) is currently writing with the help of an outside company. “He will finally shed light on what happened before and from mid-December 2022. I assume today’s article is intended to divert attention from that.”

Months of power struggle

Behind the scenes at the SRK, a power struggle has been raging for months. In December, the Red Cross Council had director Mader, who had been in office since 2008 surprisingly cancelled . Four members of the ten-member council then resigned in protest.

In his written statement, Mader emphasizes that for him “full transparency in the tried and true way is the only right way”. “I never wanted to be ‘bought’, my goal has always been and still is not to receive any financial compensation, but to continue to make my manpower, my diverse experience and my international skills available to the Swiss or International Red Cross for deliver for a limited time.”

Parliamentarians in Bern were concerned

SRK chairman Schmid-Federer was not available to comment on Blick’s request.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross faction in Bern has also become active. She wanted to know more about the quarrels, the group’s co-chairman, State Councilor Stefan Engler, 62, told Blick. The committee was informed – but without being able to hear both sides. For the group, it is especially important that the reputation of the organization “glossy again,” says Engler.

Source:Blick