Swiss Review 2/2020

Swiss Review / April 2020 / No.2 12 Politics STEFAN BÜHLER Simonetta Sommaruga likes to wan- der barefoot around her garden – as the journalists of “Schweizer Illustri- erte” learned to their bemusement while visiting the SP politician at her home near Berne in summer 2012. Sommaruga talked about her selec- tion of flowers, plucked some lettuce leaves and presented her various fruit bushes and trees – apples, pears, cher- ries, plums, blackcurrants, etc. The article was less of a typical “through the keyhole” feature, and more a pro- file of the nature-loving federal coun- cillor enjoying the sound of bees in her garden. However, Sommaruga was head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) at the time – a posi- tion that that had precious little to do with gardening or any love of the nat- ural world. And little to do with the politician herself. Sommaruga, a trained concert pianist, reluctantly inherited the FDJP portfolio after her election to the Federal Council in 2010. She was like a fish out of water at first. Admittedly, she still got to promote issues that were important to her – such as wage equality, better protection for women against vio- lence, and the concept of “marriage for all”. However, it would be fair to say that the left-wing politician did the FDJP job through gritted teeth, given that her core responsibilities in- cluded tightening Switzerland’s asy- lum laws and organising the depor- tation of foreign offenders. Sommaruga had to hold out for eight years before she got the chance to change ministries. Following the resignation of CVP Federal Council- lor Doris Leuthard, the top post at the Federal Department of the Environ- ment, Transport, Energy and Com- munications (DETEC) finally became free on 1 January 2019. With no one to hold her back this time, Sommaruga seized her opportunity. Back to her political roots It was a liberation – that was obvious when she smiled before the media af- ter clinching the move, looking to all intents and purposes as if she had just won an election. The new head of DE- TEC explained that she was return- ing to her political roots. Not only had she been on the environment com- mittee in her capacity as National Councillor and later as member of the Council of States for the canton of Berne, but she had continued to keep a close eye on environmental affairs as Federal Councillor. In her view, DETEC laid down a marker that was “crucial for our children and grand- children”. Sommaruga was positively chomping at the bit. And, right from the off, she convinced the Federal Council dur- ing her first year in office that Swit- zerland should be carbon-neutral by 2050. She won majority support for her green levy on air travel and in- sisted, for example, that federal em- ployees travel to neighbouring coun- tries by train instead of plane in future, whenever possible. Circum- stances certainly also played into Sommaruga’s hands when she started her new job: students launched school strikes for the climate at the end of 2018, just before she moved to DETEC. They organised demonstra- tions and appeared alongside Swede Greta Thunberg at the World Eco- nomic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Cli- mate change later became the key is- sue during the election year. Sommaruga, who incidentally had urged the Federal Council to take cli- Sommaruga finds her calling The new president of the Swiss Confederation, Simonetta Sommaruga, seems to be in her element since moving to the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. The SP Federal Councillor has put climate and environmental policies at the very top of her agenda. Federal Council without Greens After their success in the 2019 election, the Green Party immediately requested a seat in the Federal Council. The composition of this, the seven-member government, is built on a consensual model representing the main parliamentary parties more or less proportion- ally. The Greens complained that the FDP in particular was over-represented with two seats. With a 13.2 per cent voting share in the National Council elections, the Greens are now on an equal footing with the FDP (15.1 per cent) and the CVP (11.4 per cent). However, the centre-right parties said that one unprecedented result was no reason for changing the “magic formula” (currently two seats each for the SVP, FDP and SP, and one seat for the CVP). The Federal Council election on 11 December 2019 turned into a red-green attack on FDP Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, framed mainly as a no-confidence vote. Cassis was consequently re-elected with the lowest score. The results: Viola Amherd, CVP, 218 votes; Alain Berset, SP, 214; Ueli Maurer, SVP, 213; Simonetta Sommaruga, President of the Confederation, SP, 192; Guy Parmelin, SVP, 191; Karin Keller-Sutter, FDP, 169; Ignazio Cassis, FDP, 145. (MUL)