As a precaution, Jean-Pierre Grin is standing, on this Monday afternoon, seated in an armchair, at the top of the grand staircase of the Federal Palace, away from his colleagues. The Vaud UDC will celebrate its 73 years in a week. He is the dean of parliament. He is directly concerned by the measures to protect vulnerable groups announced by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), taken over by the offices of the two federal chambers on Monday. The people most exposed to the coronavirus are those over the age of 65 and those with severe chronic illness. They must take care of the grain and respect the rules of distance and hygiene. But the offices of the Chambers do not want to impose anything on the eight federal elected representatives – all men, including Daniel Brélaz (Greens / VD) and the president of the Council of States Hans Stöckli (PS / BE) – who have passed this age. They appeal to their personal responsibility: “Sick parliamentarians are invited to stop coming to sit,” advises the President of the National Council, Isabelle Moret (PLR / VD). Former deputies, however, no longer have access to the Federal Palace.
Read also: The Swiss must distance themselves
Jean-Pierre Grin receives this message with philosophy. “I disinfect my hands more and avoid large gatherings, most of which have been canceled anyway,” said the farmer from Pomy. However, he is worried about the fate of the next Comptoir yverdonnois, which is due to open on March 27 and for which he is responsible for the agricultural hall. “If it happens, I will only go there when it is absolutely necessary,” he said. A decision on the holding of this great meeting in the North of Vaud must be taken on March 15.
Partial unemployment in sight
The offices refused to interrupt the session of the Federal Chambers, as demanded by the head of the UDC group, Thomas Aeschi. He would have liked to put an end to it, on the pretext that parliament must be in good shape to deal with subjects as important as the bridge rent, the CO2 law and the new rules of probity addressed to multinationals. But his political opponents see it as a tactical maneuver: as the UCD is opposed to all these projects, a postponement would not have bothered her. The request of Thomas Aeschi was thus rejected by the National Council, by 155 votes against 13. “Good try”, ironically tweets the Neuchâtel Green Fabien Fivaz.
The session will therefore continue until March 20. On Monday, question time, the Federal Council gave details of what it plans to do to combat the effects of the coronavirus. Guy Parmelin confirmed that partial unemployment in the event of a reduction in working hours would be the key instrument. The notice period could be reduced from ten to three days. However, he does not see the waiting period being shortened to one day. He also does not consider it necessary to extend the duration of compensation from twelve to eighteen months. “But all the options are being analyzed,” he adds. For his part, Alain Berset notes that the ban on demonstrations of more than 1,000 people has proven to be “effective”. The Federal Council will decide on Friday whether to extend this measure beyond March 15.
–
–
