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A power struggle has been raging behind the scenes at the Swiss Red Cross (SRK) for months. In December, the Red Cross Council surprisingly fired director Markus Mader (59), who had been in office since 2008. Four members of the ten-member council then resigned in protest. After that, things continued to rumble around Switzerland’s oldest and largest humanitarian aid organization.
An external investigative report now identifies omissions on the part of the SRC’s executive body. The audit committee of the SRC forwarded the report of the consultancy firm Res Publica Consulting to the delegates of the Red Cross Assembly on Wednesday. The SRK also made the newspaper available to interested media.
According to the report, the conflict over Mader was based on a structural problem: as with other organizations with a decentralized structure, tensions had repeatedly arisen – especially between some of the cantonal associations and the office.
Criticism of SRK chairman
At the same time, the authors of the report criticize the chairman of the Red Cross Council, former CVP National Councilor of Zurich, Barbara Schmid-Federer (57). In particular, they criticize the fact that the SRC Executive Committee has not received a written request detailing Mader’s resignation.
Schmid-Federer was initially unavailable by phone for a statement to the Keystone-SDA news agency. The media office of the SRK does not want to comment further on the message for the time being. This must first be discussed at the Red Cross meeting on 24 June.
However, conclusions about Schmid-Federer’s position can be drawn from a statement by the Rozkreuz council, signed by her and her vice-president Matteo Pedrazzini, who is subordinate to the report.
“Factual errors in the research report”
In it, the two admit that they were not careful enough. However, they reject the accusation also made in the report that the Red Cross Council violated the labor law duty of care towards Mader. Among other things, it is disputed to what extent the personnel regulations of the SRC also apply to the director.
In a letter from Schmid-Federer and Pedrazzini to the Red Cross Assembly, the two also complained about “factual errors and substantive misjudgments” in the investigative report. (SDA/oco)
Source:Blick
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