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A working group is to clarify the indiscretions during the corona pandemic. The focus of the investigation: Federal Councilor Alain Berset (right) and his former spokesman Peter Lauener.
Sermin Fakipolitical chief
All eyes are now on them: the six parliamentarians who were appointed by the business audit committees of the National Council and Council of States to investigate the Corona leaks. But who are the three members of the Council of States plus three members of the National Council who are now working on the indiscretions on Federal Council decisions during the corona pandemic? Blick introduces them.
The Neuchâtel Councilor of States Philippe Bauer (60) seems made for the task as President of the working group: the liberal is a lawyer with his own law firm in Neuchâtel and has been in the Federal Palace since 2015; initially as a member of the National Council, since 2019 as a member of the Council of States. Although Bauer likes to talk at length there – in 2021, after 55 (!) minutes of monologue, he had to be asked to slowly come to the end – he is considered discreet and extremely upright.
In fact, Philippe Bauer is so secretive that he doesn’t even have a personal website, which is unusual for a politician. In addition, according to the Bundeshaus, he is someone who takes a sober and objective approach to dossiers.
The father of three is an active member of one of the oldest rifle clubs in Switzerland. He has been commissioned with discrete tests several times: In 2018, Bauer was a member of the party commission that put the FDP Federal Council candidates Karin Keller-Sutter (59), Christian Amsler (59) and Hans Wicki (58) through their paces.
The Council of States also sits in the six-person business audit delegation (GPDel), which monitors the secret service and, among other things, worked through the crypto affair. However, this work-up was a baptism of fire for him: as soon as he became a member of the GPDel, he had to take care of this delicate case. Also sensitive because the liberal former Federal Councilor Kaspar Villiger (81) was involved in the affair about the cipher machines, as was the former head of the secret service Markus Seiler (54). He is also a member of the FDP.
The Basel bidder SVP National Councilor Thomas de Courten (56) is Vice President of the working group on the Corona leaks. The economist runs an agency for political communication and public affairs. He is a member of various boards of directors and associations. In parliament – de Courten has been a member of the National Council since 2011 – he is particularly noticeable as a health politician. He has been a member of the Audit Committee since 2015, so he knows the work from many investigations. De Courten is also a father of three.
The Green Manuela Weichelt (55) has no legal background. She is a registered nurse, social worker and health expert. But the mother of two makes up for that with experience: Weichelt was a member of the Zug government for eleven years and as such headed the Directorate of the Interior until 2018. She has been a member of the National Council since 2019 – as the first woman in her canton. As a hobby, Weichelt states, among other things, reading. She will be able to investigate this extensively over the next few weeks – if the working group also receives the emails and documents in question from the federal administration.
The Innerrhoden Central Councilor Daniel Fässler (62) is an old hand under the dome of the Federal Parliament. He has been a member of the Federal Assembly for more than eleven years, initially as a member of the National Council and since 2019 as a member of the Council of States. The lawyer – his doctoral thesis was once awarded the renowned Walther Hug Prize – initially worked as a lawyer before he was elected Landammann of Appenzell-Innerrhoden. That is another advantage: alongside Manuela Weichelt, the father of three, Daniel Fässler, is another member of the working group who has experience in a cantonal government – i.e. knows from his own experience which indiscretions impede the functioning of a collegial authority.
For the Bernese SP Council of States Hans Stöckli (70), working in the Corona Leaks group is particularly difficult. Finally, with Federal President Alain Berset (50), a party colleague is the focus of the investigation. The former Mayor of Biel and father of three is unlikely to be impressed. He is also a lawyer and an experienced parliamentarian. He has been an active member of the Federal Assembly since 2004. Not for long: Stöckli will no longer stand in the elections in autumn. Which also means that the investigation of the corona leaks shouldn’t take too long: If you don’t come to a conclusion by the end of November, Stöckli would probably have to be replaced.
The green-liberal Basel national councilor Katja Christ (50) is also a lawyer. She initially worked at the health department of Basel-Stadt before moving to the municipal administration of Riehen and ultimately to a law firm. Christ, mother of two children and former ballroom dancer, is rather a blank slate in federal politics: She has only been a member of the National Council for three years, where she is involved as an education politician. However, Christ recently made headlines when, after the election of the Jurassier Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59) to the Federal Council, she called for a second seat in the Council of States for her canton. In addition, she has already gained some experience as a member of the Audit Committee: During Corona, the committee was very active.