Blocher keeps fighting after decisive neutrality initiative defeat

Christoph Blocher’s political influence is unlikely to end with the defeat of his neutrality initiative, according to people familiar with his career. The initiative was rejected by 70 percent of voters, SRF reports.

Blocher acknowledged the scale of the loss in an interview recorded in his garden for Teleblocher, a broadcaster associated with him. “That really hurts. Not because of me, but because of Switzerland,” the 85-year-old said.

Matthias Ackeret, who conducted the interview, said Blocher would continue as long as he remained fit. Ackeret describes himself as a “Blocher interpreter” and has interviewed him weekly for nearly 20 years. He said the media had portrayed the initiative as Blocher’s final battle, but recalled that Blocher had returned after previous defeats.

Historian Thomas Maissen, who has criticized Blocher’s account of Swiss history, also sees him as driven by conviction. Blocher fights for causes even when their prospects are poor, Maissen said, because he believes people should follow his lead. Ackeret said Blocher has sought to shape public opinion rather than simply reflect it, while his instincts on elections helped the Swiss People’s Party, or SVP, nearly triple its share of the vote during his leadership.

Maissen and Ackeret agreed that continuing media interest helps keep Blocher in the public eye. Maissen said no other figure in Swiss history had attracted such sustained attention, adding that Blocher often brings disruption to a political landscape he described as generally predictable.