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Greens President Balthasar Glättli announces that the Greens will run for the Bundesrat if they get more than ten percent of the voters.
Sermin Fakipolitical chief
Two more weeks, then the first big one Test for the federal elections on October 22: the elections in Canton zurI. Greenn-Chief Balthasar smooth (50) is under particular pressure as the big election winner of 2019. However, you don’t notice much of that when you look at it smooth in a bar in Zurich’s district 4.
Blick: Mr Glättli, the election year got off to a good start for the Greens: Thanks to the Corona leaks surrounding Alain Berset, your chances of appointing a Federal Councilor at the end of the year have increased.
Balthasar Glättli: Cynicism is hardly the right response to such institutional shocks. I simply hope that at some point all parties in the Federal Council will notice – and tell their Federal Councilors as well – that the government has to work. Because we really have no shortage of crises that need to be overcome.
Now you’ve dodged nicely. Is Alain Berset still wearable?
His job certainly hasn’t gotten any easier. But let the audit committees do their job. Even the SVP, which is calling for Alain Berset’s resignation, says yes, clarification is needed now. Why? Because we don’t know what exactly happened. We can draw conclusions when there is clarity.
Will the Greens stand in the Federal Council elections in December – also at the expense of the SP?
We want to be in the Bundesrat. And the argument that our success is a flash in the pan no longer applies. Even after the elections, we will not be a five percent party that can be put on the second row. If we get a double-digit result in the elections, we will stand up and demand that the other parties, unlike most in 2019, take our candidacy seriously. All key forces should be represented in the Bundesrat – and we are part of that.
Personally
In the middle of the corona pandemic, the Greens elected Balthasar Glättli (50) from Zurich as president. Previously, the National Council headed the parliamentary group of the party for seven years. Glättli is married to SP National Councilor Min Li Marti (48), the couple has a daughter.
In the middle of the corona pandemic, the Greens elected Balthasar Glättli (50) from Zurich as president. Previously, the National Council headed the parliamentary group of the party for seven years. Glättli is married to SP National Councilor Min Li Marti (48), the couple has a daughter.
However, the election polls give reason to fear that the Greens will lose.
Even if the polls are correct, we have to be conceded: The Greens have arrived in the premier league of parties. And we have more right to one seat in the Federal Council than the FDP has to two. However, our goal is to become the third strongest force after SVP and SP.
ambitious. At the moment it looks more like GLP boss Jürg Grossen will be the big winner.
Billing is done on election day. It’s the election results that count, not the polls. In the cantonal elections, we have won the most seats since 2019. I would prefer if we Greens, but also the SP and the GLP grow. This would make a climate alliance possible! The canton of Zurich shows what this can achieve. There, our green energy director Martin Neukom put together an energy law that got a majority at the ballot box in every district – even in the SVP-dominated ones. But the alliance must be strengthened for this – on February 12 in Zurich and on October 22 at the national elections. In this respect: I say to everyone who does not vote liberally, but in a green liberal way: Bravo! Of course, it would be even better to choose green (laughs).
In view of the security of supply and high prices, the discussion is developing against the climate alliance. With SVP Federal Councilor Albert Rösti, the question of nuclear power comes up again.
One notices that Albert Rösti is trying to anchor the SVP agenda in Swiss energy policy – although the voters have made it clear with the energy strategy that they do not want that. It gives a deep insight that he speaks of a “strongly discussed” climate change, which “is named as the highest problem”. I expect a Federal Councilor not to question facts such as climate change. Instead, it finds solutions to what is in fact the biggest problem facing mankind.
What solutions are you thinking of?
The cheapest, fastest and most effective solution is to stop wasting electricity: If we become more efficient, we can save 40 percent of electricity consumption. This corresponds to the production of all Swiss nuclear power plants. The cost of efficiency programs is a fraction of the cost of the solar offensive in the Alps. First of all, they are much cheaper than any nuclear dreams. In concrete terms: If you were to spend 500 million Swiss francs to install frequency converters to regulate the power in all old industrial motors, you would save three terawatt hours of electricity. For less than ten million Swiss francs, you can send a flow regulator for the shower to every household. Anyone can simply screw it into their shower head. Effect: 50 percent less hot water consumption – without sacrifice!
Rösti would certainly have nothing against that.
He should prove it instead of living out his fascination with nuclear power plants. The first acid test is coming up in the summer with the vote on the Climate Protection Act. I expect Federal Councilor Rösti to do everything in his power to support this law.
Don’t you just want to distract attention from the fact that the Greens have a conflict between climate protection and landscape protection?
We are for the expansion of new renewable energies. We have proven that: without the Greens there would have been no more funding for solar power since January 1st, 2023! We demand a solar roof obligation. And we are in favor of building alpine solar systems. But: These systems should be close to existing infrastructure and not in high alpine protected areas.
From the point of view of many, the Greens are thwarting the solar offensive!
If the power lines are already in place, solar power is available to us much more quickly than if they first had to be pulled. From the point of view of urgency, it makes no sense to destroy undeveloped protected areas.
The Greens will vote on their election program on Saturday. 1200 suggestions were received from the base. Which surprised you the most?
What impressed me is how deep our members are on the subject. Some of the proposals were very detailed, making it difficult to fit them into a general agenda.
And thematically?
We are now devoting a separate chapter to the inclusion of people with disabilities because it was strongly demanded. Apparently, the awareness that we are a diverse society is even more firmly anchored among our base than among the party leadership. This also applies to other issues such as the flight ban on domestic and short-haul flights. We would have phrased that less absolutely than the basis, so as not to be considered a ban party (laughs). But now we like to represent it that way. There will certainly be discussions on one or the other point on Saturday.
At the no-fly?
That should go smoothly. But I expect discussions on the Europe initiative, which we want to launch together with Operation Libero. We also have union members who are not happy that we want to force the Bundesrat to finally solve the European question. Although wage protection in particular would be strengthened with the initiative text compared to today and anchored in the constitution.
The initiative is window dressing! You simply demand that the Federal Council do something. What does not matter.
No, we focus on the essentials: the content! It is important that bilateral relations are secured and that a basis for new agreements is created. Whether this is done with EU or EEA accession or – in my view more realistic – with a framework agreement 2.0 is not decisive. We must prevent ourselves from being left behind even more in the area of research and innovation. We need the universities to be networked, which is why the student association supports the initiative. The EU is a leader in many areas – climate protection, data protection, regulation of artificial intelligence. That’s a chance! It now needs pressure from below on the Federal Council!