Outgoing economics minister should be replaced by a woman, say papers

Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann has been a member of the Swiss government since November 1, 2010 © KEYSTONE / ANTHONY ANEX

Wednesday’s newspapers generally praised the commitment and down-to-earth style of the outgoing Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann, who announced his resignation on Tuesday. The press is unanimous that he must be replaced by a woman. 

Summing up Schneider-Ammann’s eight-year record in office, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote on Wednesday that he “did not do a bad job”. 

“He had strong liberal instincts and entrepreneurial experience, but he lacked two main qualities… personal persuasiveness, including a creative will and detailed knowledge of dossiers, and a Machiavellian streak to forge coalitions,” it said. 

The 66-year-old centre-right Radical Party politician confirmed on Tuesday that he would leave the seven-member Federal Council (executive body) by the end of the year. 

The German-speaking Blick tabloid praised the former entrepreneur: “In his eight years as economics minister he fought persistently for Swiss small and medium-sized businesses, for a digital economy and for free trade agreements and for farmers and – in the interests of agriculture and consumers – sometimes against them. Above all, Schneider-Ammann was a rarity in Bern, almost a fossil: a thoroughly honest politician.”

+ Read more about the resignation announcement by the Swiss economics minister

The Tages-Anzeiger said Schneider-Ammann had combined “hyper-active trade diplomacy with the greatest possible regulatory restraint”. 

“For eight years, he hurried around the globe to open the doors to the Swiss economy and initiate free trade agreements such as the one with China – his greatest success,” it wrote. “Meanwhile, he left domestic economic policy to others – social partners, associations, political parties, colleagues in the Federal Council.” 

The French-language 24Heures and Tribune de Genève were more scathing: “It takes a lot of journalistic goodwill to find something positive in Johann Schneider-Ammann’s assessment. Of course, there are one or two international agreements, such as the free trade accord with China… more than his colleagues, however, he spent his time travelling and meeting people… his team, on the other hand, always showed total commitment and hard work… ultimately, the question remains open whether an entrepreneur is essential in the federal government.” 

Like many other papers, the Tages-Anzeiger said Schneider-Ammann’s Liberal Democratic Party should seize this opportunity to replace him with a female candidate – there are currently two other female ministers in the seven-person cabinet (Social Democrat Simonetta Sommaruga and Christian Democrat Doris Leuthard, who says she will resign by the end of 2019 at the latest). The paper recommends that his party puts forward two female candidates to replace Schneider-Ammann. 

Many papers mention Karin Keller-Sutter, the 55-year-old Senate President and Radical parliamentarian from St Gallen as a possible contender. 

For the Jura paper Quotidien Jurassien she meets all the criteria for a Swiss minister: “Female, age, strong right-of-centre roots, mastery of languages and, above all, an ideal cantonal and federal career.”