The long career of Hans Wicki, candidate for the Federal Council

From the dishwasher to the Federal Council candidate: Hans Wicki's steep career

Hans Wicki's career began as a dishwasher, he now wants to govern. Despite strong competition, the Liberal is confident.

barbara inglin / ch media

Hans Wicki says it with a conspiratorial hint. "The race is still long, there are still many obstacles to overcome and you can stumble everywhere." Karin Keller-Sutter wants above all that Hans Wicki has a real chance at the Federal Council Office. After all, the people of Eastern Switzerland are considered the favorite of Johann Schneider-Ammann's successor. Nobody doubts their choice.

"I'll see if I'm still in the second row on the day of the Bundesrat election," Wicki said. He wants to be elected because his abilities exactly match the profile of a federal council post, as the Nidwalden points out. Because with his experience in economics, management and direction, he is exactly what is needed, even if the appeal to three women in the Bundesrat is strong. "If someone brings as much as me, you can not consider this as a candidate for an alibi."

origin Stammtisch

Hans Wicki's career began as a dishwasher, in the true sense of the word. His parents ran the hotel Engel in the village of Hergiswil, in the Nidwalden, at the foot of Mount Pilatus on Lake Lucerne. Hans Wicki had to tackle the family business very early, doing the dishes in the kitchen, in the service and in the customer service. "That's when I learned where the money was coming from and that I had been hurt after ten hours of service," says Wicki.

At the table of the regulars, but also at the joint meal with the staff, Wicki opened the first political discussions. He came to the FDP then rather by accident. Friends took him to a party. Wicki realized that "there are all the people who walk like me, I just realized that I'm in the right place."

Wicki is politicized on the party line and resembles his rival Karin Keller-Sutter. He is committed to a liberal economic policy and an open foreign policy. On the other hand, it is difficult for him to improve social welfare or the protection of the environment.

Career steep

From 2003 to 2010, this 54-year-old economist was managing director of Pfisterer companies in Switzerland and South Africa. He then assumed the presidency of the electronics manufacturer in Switzerland until 2016.

Wicki has become politically active for the moment as a local council and then as mayor of his residential district of Hergiswil. In 2010, he was elected in the first round of the government of the canton of Nidwalden. In 2015, he was elected to the Council of States. According to rumors, he was already in the firing line of the Federal Council – and at the same time wondered why he had not used the three years spent in the Council of States to expand his network of relations in Bern, to emerge , improve your French skills.

Wicki openly admits that the departure to the Bundeshaus was a bit coniferous. The first year as Council of States, he also held the post of Landammann in Nidwalden. He had to leave five minutes before the end of the session to avoid missing the train for Nidwalden for the next session. There was no time for beer after work, networking and new friendships.

In addition, the change of legislature was not easy for the executive politician. Wicki served on the Council of States for the first time on the parliamentary side. "As director of the building and board, I was the manufacturer who tackled the problems," says Wicki. How to tackle the problems as a parliamentarian when it comes to inventing legal texts, "I had to learn it first". He is now well connected. The fact that this is not perceived is also related to the fact that it does not seek the spotlight, but rather work oriented towards finding solutions rather than making effective statements on the media plan.

Where: Wicki is eloquent, has an eloquent appearance. His colleagues call him a strong leader, he has a clear line. As an arrogant and instructive, Wicki was sometimes opposed to his political opponents in the Nidwald district, when he acted as a government council. But they also tell him that he knew how to fight for his business, willingly, often eagerly. "As an entrepreneur, I was used to implementing decisions immediately," says Wicki. He first had to learn the policy to slow down the projects, to involve the different actors. "I had to get better, better communicate my decisions." He succeeded in doing so, notably in the new Nidwalden urban program or in the completely redesigned construction law.

Tactlessness

Wicki had to accept the critics during his election to the Titlis-Bahn board of directors in 2013, then again from the government council. Shortly before, the entire government council had made a controversial decision in favor of Titlis Railways. It was the displacement of a Jagdbanngebietes. Wicki considers it "no conflict of interest". Even the co-thinkers testify to Wicki for his weak political instinct.

Wicki also made little sense when Pfisterer Schweiz announced in the summer of 2015 that 110 jobs at Malters LU and Altdorf UR would be outsourced to the Czech Republic. The Chairman of the Board, Hans Wicki, was on vacation when the important decision regarding the region was communicated. He had been booking vacations for a long time, Wicki justified his absence. Headquarters insisted that media information be disseminated at that time. As Chairman of the Board, Wicki originally subscribed to the outsourcing projects as he was promised new quality jobs at Malters. When they failed, he resigned from his mandate.

Hans Wicki is not only the entrepreneur and the politician, but also a separate family man. This is evident in the conversation when he talks about his parents, who shaped him with their work ethic. Wicki's father died a few weeks before his election to the Council of States. The father would have been very happy about the career jump. In addition to his parents, his wife Monika Wicki-Hess also influenced him a lot, says Wicki.

He met her at the age of eighteen – and was at the beginning of the relationship still in their shadow, while she was leading a World Cup level ski race. Wicki proudly tells what his daughter and son offer him at the table of political discussions, but also how they can sometimes explain to their comrades the affairs of the government. He recounts how he felt when a murder decision at Buochs ​​airport threatened him with anonymous death – and his children watched incredulously the day the police searched his home.

A lot of time for the family would not stay with the politician as a federal councilor. But the Wickis are used to it. Even as an entrepreneur and government council, the father and husband traveled a lot. While at Pfisterer, he spent years in South Africa for one week a month. "We know we can do it and not lose touch," said Wicki. If he is at home, he is completely there for his family, do not answer his mobile phone and do not answer the emails. He wants to manage that as a federal council then, if it works on December 5. (Aargauerzeitung.ch)