Harsh judgment by Ueli Maurer
The SVP is “in a dead end”
The SVP is often criticized. Before the Federal Council elections, she was accused of lack of leadership. But now sharp words come from their own ranks. Former Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer sees the party in a dead end.
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Also this year, the party cadre of the SVP met in the Hotel Bad Horn for the conference of the same name.
Every year, the SVP party leaders meet at the Bad Horn spa hotel. Also this January, the representatives of the People’s Party gathered in the hotel of former Vice President Walter Frey (79). The goal: location determination. Quo vadis SVP? Where should the journey go next?
Former Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer (72) was surprisingly clear about his party. You are in a dead end, he judged bluntly, as reported by various media. The SVP no longer has the same winning image as before. According to Maurer, the Greens and the Left are to blame for driving Switzerland and the SVP with them into a dead end.
Criticism of the SVP
But the work of the “Sünneli” party is also caught in the crossfire. Too little programmatic work was done. “We can’t just point out that Switzerland is in a dead end, we have to say: ‘The SVP is taking you out, come with me!'”
Criticism of the party leadership is not new. Both the former party president and current Federal Councilor Albert Rösti (55) and party leader Marco Chiesa (48) were often criticized. In the run-up to the Federal Council elections, there was repeated talk of a lack of leadership.
The SVP retold
Maurer, however, takes a bigger approach. He wants to reinvent the SVP, tell it anew. “We need a new, positive narrative,” he said recently in the last interview as Federal Councilor to the “NZZ”. He does not see the future of the SVP as a pure opposition party.
The SVP must learn that, as the strongest party, it must take responsibility and help shape it, he demands. He didn’t mean compromises on the core issues, such as EU accession, which the party strictly rejects. But instead of demanding the most, the party should achieve the best together with others.
It is surprising that Maurer is calling on his party to concordance and compromise, considering that he was a driving force behind the tough, provocative course of the SVP during his time as party president. (tom)