For the UDC, Switzerland would no longer be able to ensure its security and this would largely be the fault of the Minister of the Army. On Saturday, the party requested the resignation of Viola Amherd, who announced her departure four days later, excluding any link with the approach of the first party in Switzerland. The RTS wondered what the truth is in the criticisms of the UDC which have mainly been analyzed as a political attack against the centrist.
In recent months, Viola Amherd has especially stood out for demanding billions more for the army, in the face of the budgetary rigor of Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter.
In December, after long debates, Parliament finally decided to dedicate 1% of GDP to the army by 2032. Viola Amherd had fought to obtain this same budget for 2030. In vain, but the army will have still 500 million more this year. During his mandate, Valais also managed to order new combat planes, F-35s, for six billion francs.
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UDC responsibilities ignored
As head of the Department of Defense, UDC Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer failed before the people in 2014 with his plan to acquire Gripen for half the price. The UDC speaks of this disappointment neither in its vitriolic press release, nor in its 28-page report on the state of the army.
Even if the UDC has already criticized its own ministers, this observation amuses the other parties, like the PS and its national advisor Pierre-Alain Fridez. “Most of the major choices in gradually stripping down the army can be attributed to UDC federal advisers. By polemicizing to launch campaigns, by scaring people and hitting on a single person, the UDC does not look so much in the rearview mirror”, launches the Jura resident in La Matinale.
The UDC was actually in charge during the army’s major savings plans. To cite just one example: at the start of the 2000s, his minister Samuel Schmid led an austerity program, based on the security vision of the time, which imagined a leaner army adapted to new post-war threats. cold.
Undeniable drop in resources
The UDC rightly points out that the army has fewer resources. The figures are indisputable: compared to the 1960s, Switzerland has five times fewer planes, seven times fewer tanks and six times fewer soldiers. Manpower and material resources have diminished over the years and the Army 95, Army XXI and Army Development reform programs.
This weight loss cure is based on a historical explanation which goes beyond the framework of our country, notes PLR States Advisor Pascal Broulis: “Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have rather disengaged, at the European and Swiss level. Our army has reduced its numbers and recorded a marked budgetary decline. When you have to start building up again, it takes time. I don’t think that the federal advisor in charge of the file is responsible for all the problems that are happening to her. attributes”, analyzes the Vaudois senator.
Fantasy of an autonomous Switzerland
This weight loss cure is based on a historical explanation which goes beyond the framework of our country, notes PLR States Advisor Pascal Broulis: “Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have rather disengaged, at the European and Swiss level. Our army has reduced its numbers and recorded a marked budgetary decline. When you have to start building up again, it takes time. I don’t think that the federal advisor in charge of the file is responsible for all the problems that are happening to her. attributes”, analyzes the Vaudois senator.
Fantasy of an autonomous Switzerland
In summary, the army has indeed had to scale back. The result of democratic decisions, this process began several decades ago. The war in Ukraine has reshuffled the cards and the army is called upon to reform.
In the eyes of Pierre-Alain Fridez, however, we must not return to “grandpa’s army” outlined by the UDC in its report. For the elected socialist, a Switzerland capable of ensuring its security alone constitutes an illusion in any case.
“We may have had this fantasy during the Second World War. But we are Lilliputians. Our army is very weak. We will never have the possibility of defending ourselves alone,” he declares, recalling that our country is surrounded by NATO members.
Pressure from all parties
If the UDC has been criticized from all sides for having called for the resignation of a federal councilor, this does not mean that the other parties blindly support the military strategy. This week, the press also got their hands on a very critical letter addressed to Viola Amherd about seven arms and IT projects likely to turn into a debacle.
Signed by the Parliament’s finance delegation, the document received the full attention of Pascal Broulis. “Certain projects arrive in a zone of fragility, even of questioning,” notes the liberal-radical.
For him, it is important to obtain information on them: “The security committee of the Council of States took note of this letter, welcomed it, and requested situation updates two to three times a year on the progress of projects within the army”, he indicates.
This letter sounds like a warning to the army. Parliament has agreed to significant efforts for military budgets. He is now asking the military to clarify how it will use its new billions and ensure they are not wasted. The pressure will be high on the person who succeeds Viola Amherd.
Radio subject: Romain Carrupt
Adaptation web: Antoine Michel
