LETTER FROM GENEVA
The self-administered collective sanction was announced in Bern on Wednesday, March 27 at the end of the weekly working session of the Federal Council, the Swiss government. As of January 1, 2025, the seven Swiss ministers, the Federal Chancellor – Secretary General of the executive branch – and their partners will "give up" the annual ski pass, worth 4,234 Swiss francs (CHF) (€4,350), which entitles them to free skiing anywhere in the country's many ski resorts.
The lack of snow during an erratic, overly mild winter in the Alps isn't what motivated this decision – which was as anecdotal as it was symbolic. It was due to another change of climate, in this case on the political front.
On March 3, Swiss citizens voted in favor of a left-wing popular referendum for more social welfare. A real earthquake in a country unaccustomed to left-wing shifts and the unpredictable nature of public opinion. Retirees will receive an extra monthly pension payment beginning in 2026, against the wishes of the majority right-wing coalition government, which now finds itself forced to find the means to finance it. According to estimates, it will cost the otherwise well-funded federal coffers an additional CHF four to five billion (up to €5.2 billion).
During the campaign, which was unusually bitter by Swiss standards, the right-wing parties and employers, sensing the risk of an unprecedented defeat at the ballot box, spared no effort to lure their fellow citizens away from a temptation often described as "additional French-style state control." For example, they brought back five former ministers, two of them in their 80s, who had long since retired from affairs of state, to caution against the "collapse of the system" that new, hasty social spending would inevitably provoke soon.
Unfortunately, the maneuver backfired, with social media raging against the "financial wisdom" of these respected figures, who have been living off a lifetime annual pension of 230,000 CHF since leaving their ministerial posts. This sum is often supplemented by seats on the boards of some of the Confederation's most powerful companies. Retired federal advisers also enjoy the free access to ski lifts that are to disappear.
"Just wow!" Minister of Defense and Sports Viola Amherd posted on Facebook shortly before Christmas with a photo of an impeccably groomed slope at Bettmeralp, in the Valais, against a backdrop of blue skies. Aside from the usual mockery provoked by this kind of message, in which politicians showcase their private lives, a political scientist from the Tages Anzeiger newspaper put things into perspective: "In any case, when does any federal official, apart from Sports Minister Amherd, have the time to spend half a day on the ski slopes?"
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