Artikel
09.11.2003
09.11.2003
Blocher says he’s no rabble-rouser
The Swiss People’s Party's Christoph Blocher is no stranger to controversy - in fact it is one the factors that has made him such a successful politician. The ministerial candidate told swissinfo that, if elected, he would continue to lobby for less state intervention in Switzerland. of Ariane Gigon Bormann and Etienne Strebel swissinfo: How important are the Swiss abroad to you? Christoph Blocher: The Swiss abroad are extremely important ambassadors for our country. Very many of them feel very attached to their homeland. What I regret is that we have too little contact with them. swissinfo: A clear majority of the Swiss abroad would like Switzerland to join the European Union by 2007. In their opinion, this is the most urgent problem in Swiss politics today. What would you say to that? Blocher: I can understand their point of view, because it would make things easier for them in many ways. But here we’re mostly talking about administrative advantages, for example, in the area of work permits. However, these benefits to the individual cannot obscure the fact that there would be grave disadvantages if Switzerland were to join the EU. Most of the time people understand our point of view after they have been told about the drastic consequences of surrendering our neutrality and sovereignty, and about the loss of direct democracy. All in all, Switzerland would lose out on a political, economic and cultural level. swissinfo: Did the development of the EU over the last few years strengthen the position of those who are against it? Blocher: Of course. In 1992, when we had a referendum on joining the European Economic Area, there was no European Union, just a loose European Community - without a common currency and with no intention of creating a unified foreign and defence policy. I’ve always said that the question is not whether we should join the European Union. The question is which one we should join. If it had been a loose community of states, we would probably be part of it because we are, by definition, a part of Europe. swissinfo: You are always being compared to far-right figures such as France's Jean-Marie Le Pen and Austria's Jörg Haider. Do you mind? Blocher: Yes, these are nonsensical comparisons. I don’t know those people personally; I’ve only read about them in the newspapers. Also, I’m not interested in their kind of politics. Haider is an opportunist and Le Pen a one-issue bruiser. swissinfo: But aren’t you a populist, a demagogue? Blocher: A demagogue is a rabble-rouser. That’s not me. I try to convince people; sometimes they agree with me and sometimes they don’t. This is how democracy works. And I fight for my causes whether they are popular or not. swissinfo: You created the concept of "Scheininvalide" [a bogus disability benefit claimant]. Blocher: I couldn’t find a more suitable word. We have many disabled pensioners who are not really disabled. This is common knowledge. How can you tackle a problem if you cannot even call it by its name? swissinfo: But this might give the impression that all the disabled are cheats. Blocher: There is this danger. But you can’t just accept this abuse, which costs us billions, and continue to finance it with taxpayers money, simply because it is deemed not nice to talk about it. Every honest working person must feel cheated. At least this campaign has got the ball rolling. Finally, we are starting to fight this abuse of the system. swissinfo: You are in favour of a reduction of financial benefits and subsidies, with the exception of farmers. Why don’t you apply the same rules to everyone? Blocher: We want to abolish subsidies in those areas which would benefit from the free market economy. Consequently, there should be no financial support for house building, tourism, the film industry, the export industry etc. In this context, the government’s efforts to save the [collapsed] national airline [Swissair] was a big mistake. It has to be said that agricultural subsidies exist in all industrial countries. Farmers fulfil a mission: working the fields so that they don’t go to waste. Furthermore, they guarantee, to a certain extent, the well-being of the nation. The state has to make sure that this kind of work, which is for the benefit of all, is paid for. You could, however, do things better than they are done today. I, personally, would give a certain subsidy for each square metre or hectare. This subsidy would have to be just big enough to serve as an incentive for the farmer to cultivate this piece of land. What the farmer grows and produces is his business. I would stop paying any product-related subsidies. swissinfo: Your party is very popular and you are always re-elected with a big majority. However, a survey shows that 56 per cent of the population would reject you as a cabinet minister. Is there not a certain discrepancy here? Blocher: No. No party ever has the majority of the people behind it. But 32 per cent of them are in favour of me as a cabinet minister and this is more than our share of the vote. That 32 per cent would be enough in a general election, as only a seventh of the vote is needed. swissinfo: Recently you said that you were too old to be a dictator. What if you were 20 or 30 years younger? Blocher: This quote is from [a former French president Charles] De Gaulle. Just before he took over the government, his political opponents asked him if he could listen to the opinions of others or whether he wanted to do everything his way. This was exactly the question that was put to me as well. You’d have to be very malicious to not hear the irony in my answer. I am a democrat by conviction. This is why I am fighting for freedom of expression in this country, and this is also why I am taking the liberty to speak out when others prefer to remain silent.
08.11.2003
Sept questions à Christoph Blocher
Interview dans «swissinfo.org» du 08 novembre 2003 En plaisantant, le Zurichois affirme que seul un «Département fédéral de la sécurité» est nécessaire. Interview: Ariane Gigon Bormann et Etienne Strebel swissinfo: Si vous êtes élu au Conseil fédéral et si vous prenez la tête du Département des affaires étrangères, quel sera votre premier voyage? Christoph Blocher: J’irais peu à l’étranger. Je me concentrerais sur les pays où il faut expliquer la neutralité, notre indépendance et notre point de vue particulier. Ce serait Bruxelles et les Etats-Unis, donc pas en priorité la Turquie et la Corée du Nord. swissinfo: Au Département de l’intérieur, que feriez-vous pour la culture? Blocher: Je souhaite le moins possible de culture étatique et le moins possible d’artistes soutenant l’Etat. Etat et culture doivent maintenir une certaine distance permettant les frottements. Il est aujourd’hui effrayant de constater à quel point nos «artistes» pensent et écrivent de manière conformiste. swissinfo: Au Département de justice et police, comment négoceriez-vous le rapatriement des demandeurs d’asile déboutés? Blocher: Je m’engagerais à ce que les requérants dont la demande a été refusée ne reçoivent plus aucun soutien. Deuxièmement: il faut appliquer la règle de l’Etat tiers. Les personnes en provenance d’Etats sûrs ne peuvent pas être des réfugiés menacés. Troisièmement, il nous faut des camps d’accueil pour traiter les demandes de façon la plus centralisée et la plus efficace possible. swissinfo: Au Département militaire, que feriez-vous du sport? Blocher: Je veillerais à ce que le sport soit rendu à l’initiative privée. Pour la construction de grands stades, l’Etat est nécessaire. Mais sinon, je ne me mêlerais pas de sport. swissinfo: Elu aux Finances, quelle serait votre première initiative dans votre département? Blocher: J’engagerais un ingénieur des coûts pour analyser le fonctionnement de l’administration fédérale avec le mandat de baisser les coûts. swissinfo: Si vous devenez ministre de l’économie, pour quoi vous battrez-vous au sein de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce, l’OMC? Blocher: J’estime qu’il faut supprimer les barrières douanières et les obstacles à la concurrence qui subsistent dans certains pays. Nous, nous n’avons quasiment plus de barrières douanières, excepté pour l’agriculture. Nous avons peu à craindre. Nous avons par exemple nettement moins de barrières douanières que les Etats-Unis. swissinfo: Et si vous êtes ministre de l’énergie, plaidrez-vous pour de nouvelles centrales nucléaires? Blocher: Je n’en empêcherais pas la construction, mais je ne l’encouragerais pas non plus. Si des privés veulent construire des centrales, je les laisserais faire. D’ailleurs, le marché énergétique devrait être soumis à la libre concurrence. L’Etat n’a pas besoin de réglementer l’approvisionnement en énergie de manière centrale. C’est une bêtise qui pousse les prix vers le haut de manière inutile.»
08.11.2003
Sette domande a Christoph Blocher
«swissinfo» del 8 novembre 2003 Il governo svizzero può funzionare con un solo dipartimento? «Per me basterebbe un dipartimento della sicurezza», dice scherzando Christoph Blocher, che privatizzerebbe volentieri alcuni settori pubblici. di Ariane Gigon Bormann e Etienne Strebel Quale sarebbe la prima meta all'estero per il ministro degli esteri Blocher? Christoph Blocher: Andrei poco all'estero. Ma andrei laddove dobbiamo spiegare la nostra neutralità e la nostra indipendenza, la nostra posizione specifica. Vale a dire a Bruxelles e in America. Quindi, per cominciare, non in Turchia o nella Corea del nord. Quale ministro dell'interno, cosa cambierebbe nel settore della cultura? Blocher: Non vorrei una cultura statale né artisti di stato. Ci deve essere un certo attrito fra stato e cultura. È impressionante vedere come pensano e scrivono in modo conformista i nostri "creatori culturali" di oggi. Come condurrebbe le trattative per il rimpatrio dei richiedenti l'asilo respinti? Blocher: I richiedenti respinti non devono più ottenere alcun sostegno, e per questo mi impegnerò in consiglio federale. Inoltre bisogna applicare le regola dello stato terzo, vale a dire, persone che arrivano da uno stato sicuro non possono affatto essere dei rifugiati, visto che non sono minacciati. E infine, ci vogliono dei campi d'accoglienza, per trattare le richieste in modo centralizzato ed efficiente. Se dovesse diventare ministro della difesa, cosa cambierebbe nel settore dello sport? Blocher: Farei in modo di lasciarlo all'iniziativa privata. La mano pubblica può intervenire per la costruzione dei grandi stadi. Altrimenti non mi immischierei di cose sportive. Di cosa si occuperebbe, per cominciare, il ministro delle finanze Blocher nel suo proprio dipartimento? Blocher: Innanzitutto incaricherei uno specialista di costi di analizzare tutta l'amministrazione federale, con il mandato di ridurne i costi. E quale ministro dell'economia, per che cosa si batterebbe presso l'Organizzazione mondiale del commercio? Blocher: Bisognerebbe sopprimere le barriere doganali e gli ostacoli alla concorrenza che esistono ancora in certi paesi. Da noi non ci sono praticamente più dazi doganali, salvo che nell'agricoltura e lì abbiamo poco da temere. Da noi ci sono meno barriere doganali che, per esempio, negli USA. Il ministro dell'energia Blocher si batterà per nuove centrali nucleari? Blocher: Non mi opporrei alla costruzione, ma non la promuoverei nemmeno. Ma se degli esperti volessero costruire nuove centrali atomiche, li lascerei fare. Il mercato dell'energia dovrebbe essere lasciato alla libera concorrenza. Non è necessario che lo stato regoli centralmente l'approvvigionamento energetico. È una stupidaggine, che spinge inutilmente i prezzi verso l'alto.
07.11.2003