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It was announced on Friday: Swiss Life President Rolf Dörig has been a member of the SVP since December.
Rolf Dörig (65) is one of the really great captains of industry – and one of the few who also makes politically pointed statements. At the Bad Horn conference of the SVP on Friday evening came out: Dörig is a new SVP member. He explains why in the Sunday Blick exclusively. We meet him in his President’s office on the fourth floor of the still rather deserted Swiss Life headquarters in Zurich.
Mr. Dörig, why did you join the SVP?
Rolf Doerig: Because I identify with the party and its values. Joining formalizes my long-standing attitude.
Who from the SVP knocked on your door?
Nobody knocked. My socially value-conservative and economically liberal convictions in combination with my ties to my homeland go well with the SVP. I am committed to the cause and will continue to be so in the future, since I am not a friend of party ideological trench warfare.
You used to be involved with the “Friends of the FDP”. What happened?
Unfortunately, the FDP did not develop as I had imagined. The SVP with her clear compass is more reliable and closer to me. Not only in social issues, but also in economic ones.
Under the new President Thierry Burkart, the FDP has a clearly middle-class focus.
I appreciate Thierry Burkart very much. Even if the FDP is doing good work at the moment, I am taking a long-term view by joining the SVP. In the past 15 years, the SVP has also been more consistent on economic issues. And the SVP is closer to the people.
Why is the SVP closer to you?
I am conservative. That’s why I’m bothered by this mainstream woke attitude and this moralizing that corresponds to the zeitgeist of a minority spoiled by wealth. As if we had nothing more important to do. Of course, minorities must be respected. But if, for example, there is a discussion with kindergarten children about whether they might not want to be a boy or a girl after all, then I think that as a society we should better deal with the essential things.
Personal: Rolf Dörig
Rolf Dörig (65) is President of Swiss Life, the largest Swiss life insurer. He is a member of the Executive Committee of Economiesuisse and has other board mandates, including at Danzer and Emil Frey. From 2009 to 2020, Rolf Dörig was President of Adecco, the world’s largest recruitment agency. Dörig is admitted to the bar and used to be the head of Credit Suisse Switzerland and Swiss Life. Until the General Assembly in June 2023, Dörig will be President of the Swiss Insurance Association (SVV). He is married and father of three sons.
Rolf Dörig (65) is President of Swiss Life, the largest Swiss life insurer. He is a member of the Executive Committee of Economiesuisse and has other board mandates, including at Danzer and Emil Frey. From 2009 to 2020, Rolf Dörig was President of Adecco, the world’s largest recruitment agency. Dörig is admitted to the bar and used to be the head of Credit Suisse Switzerland and Swiss Life. Until the General Assembly in June 2023, Dörig will be President of the Swiss Insurance Association (SVV). He is married and father of three sons.
It is the SVP that likes to manage problems with a lot of polemics.
I am not a polemicist. But the immigration debate, for example, must be conducted openly: How many more people should come every year? Do we want a 10 million Switzerland? Or what to do about it? Nobody does that as consistently as the SVP. I’m tough on that too. It is important to me that one remains decent and respectful.
Do you find the knife stabbing advertisements of the SVP respectful?
These do not match my personal style. In the election campaign, however, a party can go to the limits. Everyone sees a little differently where this limit lies. In this matter, I expect the SVP to fight hard, but also to make compromises where compromises are possible. Only together can the SVP, FDP and Mitte make successful middle-class politics. A belief I have always stood by.
Is the SVP with Albert Rösti on the way to becoming a normal party?
What is a normal party for you?
One that is not in government and in opposition at the same time.
The SVP is a state-supporting Federal Council party. She has proven that she is capable of concordance.
Christoph Blocher remained an opposition politician even as a member of the Federal Council.
Switzerland owes a lot to Christoph Blocher. He is an impressive personality, both as a business leader and as a politician. He has worked for the country for decades, and I share his conviction that Switzerland must remain independent, neutral and attractive in the future.
How influential is Blocher for the party?
I only became a member of the local SVP party in Küsnacht in December and I don’t judge myself. But I am sure that his honest and courageous way of standing up for our country will also inspire younger generations.
Do you aspire to political office?
no If I were 20 years younger, I would think about it.
How will you get involved in the SVP?
With my experience in business and with my contacts. I am also happy to support Thierry Burkart, Gerhard Pfister and Jürg Grossen for business-friendly issues. The aim must be that the middle classes grow overall, which I consider to be central to the economic and social development of our country.
The SVP is also a peasant party. Does that suit you?
The reduction to a peasant party does not go far enough. The party is much broader and also a business party. Besides, the farmers are the ones who have their feet on the ground, and that’s important. In that sense, yes: it suits me very well.
Why are hardly any more business leaders going into politics?
A lot has become more complex, the burden of the individual tasks has increased. There has also been some decoupling of the global economy from the domestic economy.
Does that mean that a considerable part of the population no longer trusts the economy, as the ballot box shows again and again?
With globalization at the end of the 1990s, people lost awareness of the fact that business needs society. And sometimes there was a lack of humility among certain business leaders.
With the million salaries?
I don’t mind if someone makes a lot of money. Money already carries the risk of spoiling character. When you’re in a position of strength, you do well to be humble. Less blatant to keep working hard and delivering.
The ongoing scandals at Credit Suisse aren’t exactly helping either. You started your career there. How do you assess the crisis?
It’s sad and it hurts. Switzerland will continue to need two big banks in the future. I am convinced that the bank has the strength to get out of this thanks to its many good and loyal people.
What is Switzerland’s biggest problem today?
The immigration. She is the elephant in the room. After Luxembourg, we have the second highest proportion of foreigners in Europe. If we continue to grow like this, the infrastructure, environment and schools will be under too much strain. That’s why we have to use all our strength to direct our immigration ourselves.
The economy wants all the immigrants.
Sure, we need foreigners. It’s not about the people who work here, but about those who are bringing their families with them. And about those who become unemployed and overload our infrastructure and social system.
The unemployment rate is lower than ever.
Nevertheless, everyone wants the quality of life to remain high. Now we are building up Switzerland on a grand scale. There are communities where 80 percent of the students do not speak German at home. If we soon have to send our own children to integration courses, something will go wrong.
How would you regulate immigration?
Specialists are very welcome – also in care, in agriculture, in gastronomy. They come here because they want to earn more than at home. Why don’t we actually reintroduce the seasonal worker statute, ie a temporary residence permit without families? That would probably also suit many foreign skilled workers.
A model à la Dubai or Singapore?
If we think that 10 million people is too many for our country, then we have to pull ourselves together to take uncomfortable measures. Otherwise Switzerland will lose its attractiveness.
Then you support the new limitation initiative of the SVP, which wants to abolish the free movement of people?
Yes. This initiative is not all that radical and ensures targeted rather than unlimited immigration.
How is a solution to be reached with the EU about the framework agreement?
Both sides have an interest in finding a solution. Exploratory talks are good, but the negotiating mandate is still a long way off. Solutions will only be found if the EU also recognizes that there are no compromises when it comes to immigration, the Union Citizens Directive, dynamic adoption of rights and the European Court of Justice.
That’s exactly what you said five years ago.
We’re in no hurry. Switzerland is solid in terms of inflation, unemployment, currency, public finances and even exports. This allows us to act from a position of strength. Of course it’s unpleasant when the EU puts us under unnecessary pressure for purely political reasons. This increases the defenses in Switzerland even more.
Your prognosis: How will 2023 be?
I’m very optimistic. We have an extraordinarily strong economy, political stability, a high level of education and a great willingness to perform. Inflation is contained and we will not have a recession. But 2023 is an election year, a difficult time for compromise. In addition, immigration and security of supply are my main concerns.
Thanks to the mild winter, things are not looking bad.
In the short term yes. But it doesn’t change the fact that Switzerland has failed to secure its energy supply in the long term. Switzerland has had to import electricity since 2005. If France cannot supply electricity next winter, we could also have restrictions. That is why gas power plants are needed now and then a lot of innovation and new technologies.
And what about nuclear power?
It won’t work without it. It is the most effective and cleanest source of energy.
You are President of the Insurance Association, and your pointed positions have been the subject of much discussion there. Do you also continue as an SVP member?
After six years at the helm, I am one of the longest-serving presidents. I will hand over the presidency at the GM in June 2023.
Because of joining the party?
No, that has nothing to do with each other. My personal opinion has never restricted the association and myself. We hold open and committed discussions on the board – and always find consensus. Anyone who wants to polarize is in the wrong place in the insurance association.
After all, Axa, number 1 in Switzerland, is said to have left the association because of you.
In an association it is like in a company or in politics: You can never please everyone 100 percent.