Parmelin says being underestimated gave him room to work

Swiss President Guy Parmelin said being underestimated had sometimes helped him focus on his work, in an interview with SRF reflecting on his time in government and a difficult year marked by a tariff dispute with the United States.

Parmelin said he had learned to accept criticism and try to improve. Being underestimated, he added, could mean people left him alone to work. Asked whether the change in public perception made him proud, he focused instead on the need to take criticism on board.

He described the tariff dispute as demanding and said the period immediately after the United States imposed tariffs had been difficult. The Federal Council had spent a long time discussing how to respond, he said, adding that the government succeeded or failed collectively.

As economy minister, Parmelin said he had concluded an unusually large number of free trade agreements. Switzerland’s prosperity depended on access to markets abroad, he said, because the country has a population of nine million and a small domestic market.

Asked what he would be glad to leave behind, Parmelin cited having to wait for someone to open his car door when travelling abroad. He also said his private office would take more than a day to tidy. The files were scattered, sometimes on the floor, and his wife had told him: “Now, please, some order.”

Parmelin has been a member of the Federal Council, Switzerland’s government, since 2016. He has led the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research since 2019.