The Zurich government councilor Jacqueline Fehr (57) has repeatedly drawn attention to herself in the Corona crisis – with statements that were above all grist to the mill of the skeptics. She was also considered to be one of those government councilors who were held responsible for the fact that the canton hardly took any tightening of its own for a long time.
In the summer she was extremely critical of the mask requirement as a “blanket measure”.
In another tweet, she compared mouth and nose protection in pandemic times with the Islamic face veil: “Welcome to Niqab for everybody?”
Fehr is now deviating from this path as she is on her own Blog writes. “I myself have assessed some situations correctly and others incorrectly in the past few months. I was right about some positions and wrong about others. There were moments when I found the right words and those when the tone was wrong, ”said the Social Democrat.
“I’m sorry”
You probably did not express yourself ideally. For example, their question marks about the mask requirement in the shops were not a no to masks. “Wearing a mask makes sense and is necessary wherever we meet many people.”
Rather, you wanted to say that the mask alone is useless. “Looking back, I have to admit that I did not succeed in bringing this differentiated view into the mask discussion.” In addition, it was not a good time to publicly sow doubts about the official actions. “I unsettled and annoyed a lot of people. I’m sorry.”
They don’t play down, says Fehr
Most of all she regrets that she has left the impression on some of them that she takes the danger too little seriously, that she belittles the disease and is indifferent to the pain that has arisen. “I can only assure you: the opposite is the case.”
She also regrets that she called her blog, which she started in May, “fehr thinks across”. “That seemed like a suitable idea at the time,” she writes. It is important to her to look at political issues from different perspectives, including from non-obvious ones. But the development of the lateral thinker movement worried her more and more. “I can no longer write under this label,” emphasizes Fehr. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with lateral thinkers.
Fehr calls for a traffic light system
In her article, Fehr also talks about federalism – the cantonal league spirit that made people very insecure during the crisis. “Everything went well by far,” admits Fehr and calls for mechanisms that regulate the relationship between the Confederation and the cantons – and among the cantons themselves – in times of crisis. The federal government should only be in the lead where national regulations make sense – such as the obligation to wear a mask in public transport or the regulation of major events. “The cantons, on the other hand, are more competent when it comes to questions relating to schools, hospitals or prisons.”
For all other areas – from shop opening hours, curfew to the participant limit at events – a traffic light system based on the model of the avalanche danger map is needed. This requires an agreement across Switzerland on the key figures that make a canton or region a red, orange or green zone.
The federal government must now build such a system together with the cantons. And quickly: The system must be available in January, when the measures that the Federal Council is likely to impose on Friday are relaxed again. “Without a clear, transparent system, there is a risk of renewed confusion and the risk that the authorities will completely gamble away their credibility.” (sf / dbn)