SVP turns Parmelin succession into a political talent show

The Swiss People’s Party’s search for a successor to Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin has become a difficult casting exercise, comedian Bänz Friedli writes in a satirical column for SRF. The party would like to elect a woman to the government for the first time, but potential candidates have declined.

National Councillor Magdalena Martullo has business interests to attend to in Graubünden, Russia and China, Friedli jokes. Ständerätin (member of the Council of States) Esther Friedli values her freedom and her country inn too much, while Zurich government member Natalie Rickli is needed in her canton.

That leaves Geneva National Councillor Céline Amaudruz as the only woman to put herself forward, creating a dilemma for the party’s selection committee. Leaving her off the proposed ticket would reject the only female candidate and risk alienating French-speaking Switzerland, which Friedli says already feels neglected and misunderstood by German-speaking Swiss.

But if the SVP puts Amaudruz forward, a majority of the United Federal Assembly is likely to vote against her, Friedli argues. He points to her recent work for private bank Reyl, which he says has faced allegations of laundering mafia money and concealing questionable Russian assets.

Friedli runs through the other possible candidates with similarly pointed descriptions: Aargau government member Jean-Pierre Gallati, whom he calls an “immunisation enthusiast”; Solothurn National Councillor Christian Imark, a Covid sceptic; Bernese government member Pierre Alain Schnegg, described as devout; Valais National Councillor Michael Graber, whom he calls a hard-living political bruiser; and Valais government member Franz Ruppen, whom he labels a pub-table politician. He also names Marco Chiesa as a representative of Italian-speaking Switzerland, joking about his German.

The process resembles a television talent show, Friedli writes, where would-be stars often outnumber truly prominent contenders. He also notes that Thomas Aeschi, a favourite of the party leadership and a potential candidate himself, is on the selection committee. Aeschi has officially recused himself, Friedli acknowledges, before suggesting that he may still be able to influence events behind the scenes.

In the end, Friedli suggests, the candidates may come and go and quickly be forgotten, while the show serves mainly to raise the profile of its self-important jury chair, like “Deutschland sucht den Superstar.”