Resignation of Viola Amherd: balance sheet of a controversial Federal Councilor

What a triumph. The bilateral exhibition with the most powerful woman in Europe, intimately connected in European euphoria, and this in Bern, not in distant Brussels, in front of the cameras of the assembled Swiss media: If Viola Amherd dreamed of a perfect ending at the beginning of her year as Federal President, she has It probably looked exactly like this: a media conference on the successful conclusion of negotiations with the EU alongside Ursula von der Leyen on December 20th.

The photos express it better than the convinced European from the narrow Rhone Valley could ever express it herself: Amherd belongs internationally. She is on a first-name basis with von der Leyen, she has a good relationship with Volodimir Selenski, and she also gets along with Emmanuel Macron and Kamala Harris.

The obligatory family photo on the Bürgenstock in spring is already given iconic status: all the state leaders stand in a row, only Amherd sticks his head out. The Conference for Peace in Ukraine is probably the Federal President’s greatest success, even if no concrete results were achieved. In any case, Amherd has achieved several goals that she set for herself as Federal President: strengthening multilateralism and advancing the EU dossier.

Isolated domestically

But no matter how much ‘Amherd shines in the light of the “Western partners” that she likes to talk about, she finds herself isolated in Federal Bern, of all places after her year as Federal President.’ The start was already bumpy, with the departmental distribution with the completely unexpected change of Elisabeth Baume-Schneider weighed on the mood from the start. Later, in the course of the presidential year, the fronts in the Federal Council hardened, according to observers from all camps. The SVP-FDP gang of four around Karin Keller-Sutter and Albert Rösti often set the tone that Amherd is not part of this team and probably no longer wants to be.

Given the geopolitical situation, Amherd could have played a key role as defense minister. Ultimately, the army is facing its biggest challenge since the Cold War. Since 1991, massive savings have been made in defense capabilities, and now the army is to be made operational again.

But this is proving to be a feat of strength in times of impending structural deficits; the financing issue is fragmenting the bourgeois camp right up to the Federal Council. What is needed is strong leadership with a clear plan that succeeds in creating majorities. Amherd has not yet succeeded in doing this. Instead, misunderstandings, bankruptcies, bad luck and mishaps in the Defense Department continued to leak out throughout 2024 while the boss jetted around the world.

Fight against Karin Keller-Sutter

There is the relationship with Karin Keller-Sutter, the Finance Minister, which is tense to shattered, depending on the source. The origin was, among other things, a hairpin turn by the defense minister, which some in Bern see as a breach of word and even a violation of the principle of collegiality. At the beginning of 2023, the Federal Council decided, contrary to Parliament’s initial resolutions, to increase the army budget to one percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2035 and not in 2030. Keller-Sutter had campaigned for this compromise under pressure from the debt brake, and Amherd was responsible for the decision first with.

Later she repeatedly indicated that she considered faster growth to be essential for defense capability. In a guest post she wrote: “We must invest in our defense now.” The security of Switzerland and Europe is at stake. This was read in Bern as a veiled commitment to faster growth. Also because behind the scenes Amherd supported the “horse trade” put together by centrist and SP politicians, a 15 billion dollar deal that circumvented the debt brake and linked the army budget and aid to Ukraine. When the deal fell through, she briefly introduced a similar idea in the Federal Council, which unsurprisingly ran again – but shortly afterwards her party colleague Martin Candinas miraculously introduced exactly the same idea to the National Council. He also failed.

The bourgeois majority in parliament has now taken a middle path: the new target is 2032. It is still not entirely clear where the money will come from. The finance minister looked good. But she is said not to have forgiven her Federal Council colleague for the double game, on the contrary.

Leaks and more leaks

There are also disagreements in the Defense Department (DDS) and the army. While the Federal Council and Parliament discussed options for a higher military budget throughout the year, people who must have been close to the army used leaked documents to spread doubts about whether the DDPS even knew how to handle money.

In February, based on internal documents from the army staff, the SRF reported on an alleged “billion-dollar hole” in the army. The story took place over three weeks, during which neither the army chief nor the DDPS were able to clear up the matter. In the end, the National Council’s Finance Commission made it clear: the army did not have a money problem, but rather a communication problem. It’s all just a misunderstanding.

This should be followed by more. In October, the SRF reported that the new system for monitoring the airspace and managing fighter jets (Skyview) purchased by the Swiss army had been on hold for months because its integration into the army’s new digital platform entailed risks. Cost: around 300 million francs. In the same month, problems with the army’s logistics software also came to light. The revelations worried politicians from the right to the left. In total, the DDPS manages large IT projects worth around 4 billion francs. Parliamentarians now asked whether the army could even cope with the demands in the IT sector.

Leaks are part of the political game in Federal Bern. However, if they accumulate, they can indicate a broken relationship of trust. Amherd has embarked on a huge transformation in recent years, for example by setting up the Federal Office for Cybersecurity and the State Secretariat for Security or reorganizing the Intelligence Service and the Federal Office for Civil Protection. Initially, reorganizations usually cause dissatisfaction, but Amherd has not yet managed to restore calm.

A strategy, please

Parliament is now trying to bring the defense minister into a more active leadership role from outside. It has given her the task of designing an overall security policy strategy at the Federal Council level. To date, the state government has not really made it clear where it wants to go with the army.

Amherd and her experts are not necessarily suffering from a strategic deficit: the Defense Department has outlined the security situation in various papers and presented it to the Federal Council. There is also the black book of the army chief Thomas Süssli. It shows how he wants to make the army defensible. You just have to read the papers, Amherd likes to repeat.

But what is missing is the magistral bracket. According to various surveys, the population’s understanding of billions in investments in the army is low. Almost three years after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the defense minister has still not managed to convey why the country needs a defensible army and why it costs billions. If a tax increase were to become necessary at some point, Amherd would be dependent on the support of the people.

But instead of seeing Parliament’s mandate as a communicative opportunity, Amherd once again created a “misunderstanding”. In the National Council she first claimed that she had supported the corresponding motion in the Federal Council. Afterwards she publicly crucified because the opposite is true: Amherd vehemently resisted the order behind the scenes.

Mistakes can happen, her friends say. Amherd doesn’t take the truth as seriously as her opponents. There seems to be more of the latter with every “misunderstanding”. And it doesn’t look at all as if Amherd is trying to reach a good agreement. Anecdotes from the Federal Council suggest this.

Recently, for example, she was the only one to formally recommend for acceptance a left-wing initiative to weaken the debt brake, which not even the SP federal councilors supported. The venture was completely hopeless. Amherd has thus further isolated itself. She may be thinking about leaving soon. Anyone who leaves no longer needs support. In fact, party friends also thought a resignation next year was plausible, for example after the European Football Championships in the summer. This happened earlier now.

Valais injuries?

However, the reasons for Amherd’s isolation may lie deeper and have something to do with her origins. As a self-declared feminist on the left-wing edge of the center, the politician didn’t have it easy in conservative Valais. When she was considered a candidate for the Federal Council in 2018, there was headwind from within her own ranks. The “Walliser Bote” called her a “wallflower” and revealed a rental dispute that she fought in civil court. To date, influential centrist politicians have not come to terms with their role and even seem to be torpedoing their work.

Perhaps the harsh climate in her own canton is one reason why Amherd only trusts a handful of like-minded female politicians. First and foremost, her long-time advisor Brigitte Hauser-Süess – also a CVP feminist from Valais. Amherd’s advice from her friend after her retirement cost a lot: the cost ceiling for three months was 97,000 francs, the daily rate was 1,140 francs gross.

The NZZ’s revelation caused outrage given the strained financial situation. But Hauser-Süess interpreted the criticism as one would expect from her: feminist. Switzerland is apparently still not ready for high-earning women, she told the “Walliser Bote” about the holidays. If it had been a man, the discussion would have looked different, said Hauser-Süess. That may be so. However, such statements do not make friends among bourgeois politicians. And her former boss Amherd urgently needed this.

Karin Keller-Sutter is now succeeding Viola Amherd as Federal President. In her inaugural speech, the liberal did not talk about the EU dossier or other high-flying topics like her predecessor. Instead, Keller-Sutter simply stated that as Federal President she had to ensure that the government, as a collegial authority, was able to make decisions and act. This will be the focus of their efforts. Some read it as a well-disguised swipe. How Amherd plans, prepares and conducts the Federal Council meetings is criticized from various quarters.

Even now, after announcing her resignation, it will be easy for her to list successes and show a balance sheet that is impressive. Voting victory for the new fighter jets, massive increase in the army budget, conference on the Bürgenstock, the EU dossier, closer cooperation with NATO: all of this occurred during her time as VBS boss and Federal President.

In the end, the 62-year-old often gets what she wants. Some – often women – attribute this to their sophistication. Behind all the communicative trials and tribulations there is a bigger plan. Male contemporaries tend to attribute their successes to luck. But no one is sure: for many, Viola Amherd is a closed book, even after six years in the Federal Council.