Viola Amherd, who oversaw the purchase of F-35 jets from the US as defence minister, has not commented on the latest accusations.
Keystone-SDA
A Swiss parliamentary report on the absence of a fixed-price agreement for the procurement of new F-35 fighter jets from the US has sparked controversy. For now, however, no changes are expected, while former Defence Minister Viola Amherd has yet to comment.
Centre-right parties, which hold a majority in parliament, have made clear that they are not keen on a parliamentary committee of inquiry (CPI) into the procurement issue, while the Greens are pushing for this solution.
According to the House of Representative’s Committee on the Examination of Public Accounts (GPK-N), no flat-rate fixed price has been agreed with the US, as stated in a report published on Tuesday. The Swiss defence ministry has repeatedly assured the public that 36 American-made F-35A fighter jets would be delivered at a fixed price of CHF6 billion ($7.5 billion).
The new parliamentary report has sparked concerns in all parties in Switzerland. “The impact on Switzerland’s image is catastrophic,” Green lawmaker Clarence Chollet told the Keystone-ATS news agency.
Swiss People’s Party leader Thomas Aeschi declared: “We need to ask and clarify some fundamental questions. Who was in charge of the dossier? Was the law firm supervised, or did it act independently?”
For its part, the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party is calling for the restoration of trust between the government and parliament. Lawmakers must have access to clear information when the process is of such importance, it says.
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No legal consequences
As for any legal consequences, Andreas Stöckli, professor of constitutional and administrative law at the University of Fribourg says “it is difficult to assess whether federal administration staff face any risk”.
“The requirements for financial liability on the part of Swiss administration staff are stringent,” he says.
It would be necessary, for example, to prove that there was unlawful conduct, and that the act was committed intentionally or through gross negligence, Stöckli told Keystone-ATS. In such a case, separate legal proceedings would have to be initiated. For the same reasons, the law firms involved in the F-35 procurement process should not be subject to legal proceedings either.
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Renewed controversy in Switzerland over US fighter jets – explained
Amherd remains silent
When contacted by Keystone-ATS, Viola Amherd said she had already commented on the matter and would not be making any further statements regarding the allegations raised in the report.
The former defence minister from canton Valais, who is a member of the Centre Party, is unlikely to be held responsible, even though the negotiations relating to the purchase contract fell within her remit. According to the Greens, “such a fiasco cannot be attributed to the responsibility of a single person”.
Vincent Martenet, a lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Lausanne, noted that “members of the Federal Council enjoy absolute immunity for statements made before parliament”. In short, there remains only one option: a political one, via the creation of an parliamentary committee of inquiry (CPI) into the affair.
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A CPI? Unlikely
The Greens are exploring this possibility and could put forward a motion during the autumn session of parliament in Bern.
However, the chances of persuading parties on the right to establish a CPI are slim. According to Pierre-Alain Fridez, a former Socialist lawmaker, “most parliamentarians will feel that the contracts have been misinterpreted. I fear they will stop there,” he said told the 24 heures newspaper.
The Social Democrats, for their part, expect the Federal Council to investigate whether any false statements liable to criminal prosecution were made in what it calls a colossal fiasco. The left is therefore likely to refuse to consider the request for an additional credit of almost CHF400 million for the 30 F-35s that are planned.
According to parliamentarian Benoît Gaillard, more time is needed “to shed light on the matter”.
“In our democratic state, it is a disgrace that a procurement worth over CHF6 billion, grudgingly accepted by the public, has been so badly managed,” said Clarence Chollet.
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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
