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Was also already in the sights of the auditors: Former Federal Councilor Christoph Blocher.
Who gave whom what information? And who knew about it? Parliament’s audit committees want to investigate these and other questions in connection with the Corona leaks.
“It’s not about finding and convicting the guilty,” emphasized Matthias Michel (59, FDP), President of the GPK of the Council of States on Tuesday. Rather, the aim is to help prevent a similar case in the future.
Will that succeed? At most, the commission can make recommendations to the Federal Council or – which happens less frequently – propose changes to the law. A look back shows that parliamentary investigations only have consequences in exceptional cases.
Five important GPK cases of the past twenty years:
2022: Berset’s blackmail affair
The case made headlines: In November 2019, Federal Councilor Alain Berset (50) was the victim of an attempted blackmail by a former lover. Various allegations were then leveled against him: Berset had deployed employees for private purposes, had been given preferential treatment by the federal prosecutor, a police operation had been disproportionate and Berset had himself chauffeured to private meetings in his representation vehicle.
However, the GPK of the National Council and Council of States came to the conclusion that all allegations were unfounded. They found no irregularities and no misuse of federal funds. However: The fact that part of the correspondence between Berset’s department and the blackmailer was deleted was not an issue in the GPK report.
More than 200 million francs. That’s how much the Postbus leadership illegally stole from subsidies between 2007 and 2015 through accounting tricks. The subsidy bust that became known in 2018 cost those responsible at Postauto their job, Post CEO Susanne Ruoff (65) resigned.
An investigation by the GPK of the Council of States could not substantiate the suspicion that the then Transport Minister Doris Leuthard (59) knew about the illegal scams. But she came to the conclusion that the federal government is partly responsible for the scandal. Among other things, the lack of supervision of Postbus was heavily criticized. However, the Federal Council was not very insightful on important points. For example, he didn’t want to know anything about a new Federal Council committee for state-related companies.
2018: Expense affair in the DDPS
The trigger was the cost of a Christmas dinner and other expense accounts. At the end of 2016, the then SVP Defense Minister Guy Parmelin (63) released his senior medical officer immediately. The Defense Department (VBS) also filed a complaint on suspicion of criminal acts. This overshot the target, according to the conclusion of the National Council’s GPK. An internal investigation had not been able to confirm the allegations. The exemption should therefore have been questioned more critically, and the ad was also hasty.
At the same time, the GPK welcomed the fact that the DDPS then introduced a new expense regulation. Exceptions should only be granted with the greatest reluctance. Even the Federal Council considered a cultural change in the DDPS to be necessary.
2007: Plot allegation against Blocher
A GPK investigation ended in debacle in 2007. A sub-commission headed by CVP National Councilor Lucrezia Meier-Schatz (71 today) investigated the affair surrounding the dismissal of former federal prosecutor Valentin Roschacher (62). At a media conference in autumn 2007, she accused the then Minister of Justice Christoph Blocher (82) of a conspiracy – and that a few months before the Federal Council elections.
Blocher described the investigation as “tentative”. And indeed, a later investigation by the audit delegation found that there was no evidence of the conspiracy. Blocher and the Bund agreed to a settlement after the former filed a lawsuit over the affair.
2003: Spitting attack in federal court
It is extremely rare for a GPK examination to have personnel consequences. But that was the case in 2003. The focus was on federal judge Martin Schubarth (today 81, SP) because he spat on an “NZZ” journalist in the federal court. But instead of the journalist, he met a court clerk. He was also accused of irregularities in the court department he heads. The verdict of the GPK was clear: it called on Schubarth to resign – as quickly as possible. Schubarth did the same: he resigned a few days before the report was published.