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The Federal Council wanted to shake the population with an informative offensive after its extraordinary session. However, it is quite possible that there will still be changes in the stricter measures.
Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga and Federal Councilor Alain Berset went on the offensive Tuesday.
Photo: Peter Klaunzer (Keystone)
The process is as extraordinary as the current situation on the Corona front. The Federal Council held an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday. The observer hoped in advance that he would assess the situation and discuss possible measures for his regular meeting on Friday. It was also to be expected that he would hold out until Friday, until what was happening was finally decided.
But it turned out different. With an informative offensive on Tuesday night, Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga and Interior Minister Alain Berset (both SP) have already announced what the Federal Council intends to decide on Friday.
Sommaruga and Berset tried to maintain the sovereignty of the information.
Therefore, the Federal Council pursued the following objectives. First, the population must be more aware of the seriousness of the situation. The Federal Council hopes that a newly awakened population will better adhere to the requirements that are already in place.
Second: With immediate notification, the government gave shops, restaurants, markets and leisure activities threatened by the new measures a four-day warning period. The new closing time of 7 pm and the ban on opening on Sundays should apply from Saturday night.
And third, the Federal Council’s approach was ahead of the media who reported in advance what was happening, although the Federal Council did not provide any official information. In recent weeks and months, this has always included this editorial team. Sommaruga and Berset prevented the leakage of unofficial messages with their quick preliminary information and thus tried to maintain control over the information.
Berset wants to close restaurants
Delivering the news Tuesday night, Sommaruga and Berset made it appear almost carved in stone, which has yet to be formally decided. However, it is clear from circles close to the Federal Council that some things could change again for Friday’s session. The Bersets interior department has produced a draft ordinance that legally expresses what Sommaruga and Berset announced at their press conference. The documents went to the office consultation and the brief hearing with the cantons on Wednesday night. Depending on pressure from the cantons and interested business associations, the Federal Council could still make changes to the rules on Friday; It is possible, for example, that the cantons of western Switzerland propose a mechanism that allows them to leave their restaurants open longer at night.
But it’s also unclear whether Federal Councilor Berset, who already wanted to shut down restaurants entirely, will prevail on Friday. And it remains to be seen whether a minority of bourgeois federal councilors who demand longer rather than shorter store opening hours will prevail. Federal councilors Maurer and Parmelin, in particular, have been pushing for weeks for the opening hours of stores to be liberalized in the context of Corona. They argue that Corona will be less widespread if shopping during the Christmas season is also possible outside of peak hours, because then there are fewer people. However, with the proposed solution, it will be narrower in city centers and means of transport: the spread of the crown will be promoted. In the end, the Federal Councilors found a compromise that aims to preserve the effect of the overall package.
Various proposed changes
There was reportedly no opposition to the compromise package shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday night at the end of the session. This unity in the Federal Council sends a remarkable signal, because there were several proposed changes, the so-called co-reports. One suggestion was, for example, that binding thresholds should be set as to when which measure is applied, that is, a kind of traffic light system: then a major lock would be ordered at the highest threshold for new infections.
