Mazzone says Amaudruz’s Reyl ties pose a major problem

Green Party President Lisa Mazzone says Céline Amaudruz’s ties to private bank Reyl are a major concern as the Swiss People’s Party considers candidates for a seat on the Federal Council. Mazzone made the remarks in an interview with Swiss broadcaster SRF.

Amaudruz, the only woman among the party’s candidates to replace Guy Parmelin, worked for Reyl until the end of September. “Her closeness to this bank and her strong lobbying for a bank that did business with Russia for a long time are a very big problem for me,” Mazzone said.

Media reports said Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority, known as FINMA, had reprimanded Reyl, including over inadequate measures to prevent money laundering. Shortly afterwards, Amaudruz, a member of parliament from Geneva, submitted several motions critical of FINMA.

Mazzone said the Greens would invite the candidates to a hearing, although she doubted the party would recommend anyone for election. “Looking at the field, I find it hard to imagine that,” she said. She also criticised the other candidates, saying there were “more people from Upper Valais than women” and men who were almost old enough to retire.

The Greens, who have 23 members of parliament, account for more than 10% of the votes in the Federal Assembly. The party has never recommended electing a People’s Party candidate to the Federal Council, although Green lawmakers have repeatedly voted for such candidates. Mazzone said she had not done so during her time in parliament.

The Greens will not field a rival candidate in the election to replace Parmelin, the second time they have taken that approach since 2022. They plan to run in next year’s full Federal Council election. Mazzone said a quarter of voters were not represented on the council and accused the four governing parties of forming a “power cartel”. She said the council had “left the population in the heat” this summer.

Mazzone argued that a Green seat would change the council’s current make-up, and said the Free Democratic Party was overrepresented, not the Social Democratic Party. She dismissed speculation that the Greens might seek a seat at the Social Democrats’ expense, saying there would be no majority for such a move and that the discussion was intended to fuel a dispute on the left.