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keystone-sda.ch
![The Federal Council surprised the population last Wednesday with its rapid easing strategy.]()
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The Federal Council surprised the population last Wednesday with its rapid easing strategy.
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Thomas Meier
![As a result, restaurants are allowed to reopen the following Monday, May 11th.]()
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As a result, restaurants are allowed to reopen the following Monday, May 11th.
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keystone-sda.ch
![Museums can also receive visitors at this time - and not only on June 8, as was previously said.]()
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Museums can also receive visitors at this time – and not only on June 8, as was previously said.
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Keystone
![In the end, external pressure should also be partly responsible for the change in mood in the Federal Council.]()
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In the end, external pressure should also be partly responsible for the change in mood in the Federal Council.
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The Federal Council was on the road for two weeks in terms of loosening with the handbrake applied. On Wednesday, the government released the brakes – and shifted up a gear: Stains and bars should open again on May 11th. Museums can then again receive visitors.
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In the eyes of the public, the decision came abruptly, the change in pace surprising. When Health Minister Alain Berset (48, SP) presented the timetable for the first easing measures in mid-April, he had not even mentioned the hospitality industry. The rapid reopening of museums also contrasts with the decision from that time, in which the Federal Council named 8 June as the date for the reopening of museums and libraries.
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Extreme positions from Maurer and Berset
The Federal Council’s easing sprint is the result of weeks of wrestling behind the scenes. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer (69, SVP) represented the extreme positions on the one hand and Berset on the other.
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Maurer had already warned of the economic consequences of a lockdown when the corona epidemic broke out in Switzerland. In recent weeks, too, he has barely missed an opportunity to oppose what he sees as harsh intervention by his colleagues in the Federal Council.
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On the day of the decisive meeting, the «NZZ» brought an interview with Maurer. In it, he commented on the Federal Council’s strategy of the past few weeks with the biting words: “It was really not always easy to share all of this with colleagues.” While the country was still processing Maurer’s attack, Berset had to announce the easing. It would be wrong to conclude that the SVP man has imposed his will on the Federal Council. The line of the finance department is still going too far for the government majority. As it is said from the environment of the Federal Council, Maurer asked in vain on Wednesday to practically lift the restrictions on gastronomy on May 11. The majority instead decided on a limit of four guests per table.
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Ban on assembly remains
The finance minister has also unsuccessfully requested a strategy for how meetings with up to 1,000 people should be held again. Also with his proposal for an exemption for cases in which more than five people come together, he bit his council colleagues on granite. The ban on such meetings continues to apply.
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Health Minister Alain Berset, on the other hand, is doing everything rather too quickly than too slowly. One of the scenarios that the interior department circulated at the beginning of the crisis was for a lockdown that would have taken almost twice as long. Berset had also proposed a more cautious pace before the Wednesday session with regard to gastronomy.
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Until recently, a majority of the Federal Council was on the Berset line. The state government maintained its cautious strategy until the end of last week. At least this had signaled to the party leaders, as Greens President Regula Rytz (58, BE) remembers. Other participants in the meeting confirm this. On Wednesday, Alain Berset then represented “the opposite” to the media, says Rytz. And she comes to the end: “The state government is jeopardizing the trust of the population and parliament.”
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Criticism from the SP
Critics have also been heard from the SP “We have now come to a point where some openly ask how many deaths we want to put up with in order to be able to return to everyday economic life as quickly as possible”, said the National Council of Aargau Cédric Wermuth (34). “I sincerely hope that we don’t switch too early.”
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In fact, the Federal Council had already advised in the first weeks of April when restaurants could open their doors to guests again. However, because no agreement could be reached until the media conference on April 16, the Federal Council believed it could exclude the topic. In view of the violent outrage that was subsequently reflected in the media, the administration is now admitting that this communication strategy has gone wrong.
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Last but not least, the National Council Economic Commission put pressure on. She demanded that the small shops be opened from April 27th and that the restaurants would be gradually opened on May 11th.
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Gössi disappointed with easing
Petra Gössi (44, SZ), president of the FDP, which has two federal councilors, also voiced sharp criticism. It was “disappointed” by the hesitant easing and accused the government of lacking a “real strategy”. The SVP even launched a real campaign to end the lockdown.
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And something else may have prompted the Federal Council to decide on Wednesday: the extraordinary session starting on Monday. CVP chief Gerhard Pfister (57, ZG): «It was clear that the Federal Council had to clarify the open questions before the extraordinary session. Otherwise, he should have expected that Parliament would take control of it and issue emergency ordinances itself. »
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Case numbers influence the Federal Council
Falling numbers of cases are also likely to have influenced the debate in the Federal Council and have led to the population being allowed to drink their coffee or a glass of wine again from Monday the week after next: More than two weeks ago, around 300 newly infected people were reported; it is now only around half.
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But the easing that has now been decided leaves open central questions. like what a change of strategy could look like if the number of cases started again due to the easing. This week, some councilors wanted to know exactly this in a commission meeting of Pascal Strupler, the head of the Federal Office of Public Health.
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Strupler could not really calm the parliamentarians. Some who were there say that Strupler did not owe the Commission an answer.
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