Green Party member of the Council of States Zopfi not a candidate for the Federal Council
Published: Wednesday, Nov 1st 2023, 16:40
Updated At: Thursday, Nov 2nd 2023, 00:54
Retour au fil d'actualité
The Green member of the Council of States from Glarus, Mathias Zopfi, is not running for the Federal Council. With Gerhard Andrey, he argues, a credible entrepreneur and pragmatic Green is already running. For him, the magic formula is dead.
"We say: let's develop a new magic formula! One that is not volatile, but stable," Zopfi demanded in an interview with Tamedia newspapers published online Wednesday. And, "We have to do it like we did in 1959 when we invented the magic formula."
The magic this time, he said, is that the Greens are showing that "we want dynamic political majorities in the Federal Council, as there will be more of them in parliament. Gladly also in cooperation with a third pole in the middle, which is forming under Gerhard Pfister," said Zopfi.
"My personal vision is that with our candidacy we reach out far into the center and liberal camps," added Zopfi, who does not want to rule out his own candidacy for the Federal Council in the future.
At the moment, he perceives the Federal Council as a body that is not pulling together. This is due to the failed magic formula. The uncertainty and instability lead to blockades. "Recipes that are not just party templates should win again. That is what made our country great," Zopfi said.
"When we run with someone like Gerhard Andrey, who is not an ideologue, we send a signal: We are making an offer to the parliament, we are ready to take responsibility. It is anything but a token candidacy," Zopfi emphasized.
Only via votes from the center
Andrey will probably not be elected. He was aware of that, and Andrey himself was probably also aware of that. But Karin Keller-Sutter had also run twice before becoming a federal councilor. It is clear that the way to a seat on the Federal Council for the Greens is to get enough votes from the center.
"I don't deny anyone with a more left-wing profile that he or she would also be a good candidate," Zopfi said. For him, it's about the signal: If such a candidate were to win a seat at the expense of the FDP, the impression would be created that the left now simply has three seats in the Federal Council. But the Greens have a different profile than the SP.
From Zopfi's point of view, it would be inconsistent to attack the SP seat. After these elections, the SP is by far the second largest party. In order to gain a share of power, this step would be more promising in the short term. For the Greens, however, it is a matter of cooperating in the great challenges that Switzerland is now facing.
No hostility to capitalism
Moreover, the origin and history of the Greens is different from that of the SP. "We don't have to compulsively overcome capitalism," said Zopfi. And: "We want to find majorities for climate protection, for a progressive European policy. We are ready to work with the FDP and the center for this - and if possible also with the SVP."
Zopfi regrets that the GLP split from the Greens. "I would like it if we reversed this mistake," he said in the interview, stressing, "The Greens have a broad spectrum. The GLP would have room with us."
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic