Private matters lead to army chief’s public fall

Roland Nef faced questions over his integrity after details of a coercion settlement surfaced in the media Keystone

The head of Switzerland's armed forces, Roland Nef, has tendered his resignation following allegations of sexual harassment and broader questions over his integrity.

A statement released by Nef’s lawyers came as the chief commander took part in a hearing by the two parliamentary security committees on Friday.

The main political parties welcomed Nef’s offer but some of them continue to call for the Defence Minister Samuel Schmid to step down.

For his part, Schmid called Nef’s resignation regrettable. He thanked the army chief, who has been in his job for less than seven months, for his service.

Cabinet is to meet to discuss the financial details related to the termination of Nef’s employment at a meeting in August.

While Nef has not commented on the sexual harassment case and previously insisted on privacy, he said on Friday that the allegations hanging over him had made his job as head of the armed forces effectively impossible.

The 48-year-old was suspended as the commander of Switzerland’s armed forces at earlier this week on after being served an ultimatum by the defence minister.

Speaking then, Schmid said the army chief had “convincingly” refuted allegations of impropriety, but nevertheless gave Nef 30 days to prove his integrity or be fired.

Details of the allegations against Nef, which included charges of coercion, as well as a payment to a former girlfriend as part of an out of court settlement, had been leaked to the media earlier in July.

Nef said he regretted that Schmid, his political champion one year ago, had been dragged into the scandal. The Swiss press has been vocal in its criticism of the embattled defence minister.

A statement released by the defence ministry on Friday said that Nef’s deputy, André Blattmann, would continue to lead the army on an interim basis.

A hard line

The resignation comes one month after the resignation of former air force commander Walter Knutti over questions of bad judgement and incompetence following an accident that killed six soldiers.

Nef took a hard line against his subordinate at the time. “I want order in the army. Where there is no order, I will enforce it, ” he said. “I lead and I act, and I expect the same of my subordinates.”

A former artillery commander, Nef was appointed by the cabinet in June 2007 to succeed army chief Christophe Keckeis. Following his selection, he took a pragmatic approach, with a particular focus on transparency and dialogue.

When Nef took up his post at the beginning of the year, he concentrated on consolidation efforts within the armed forces and aimed to increase the basic readiness of the army.

Reaction

Three of the country’s four main political parties on Friday said Nef’s resignation was the right thing to do.

The centre-left Social Democratic Party and the centre-right Christian Democratic Party described Nef’s resignation as a logical consequence.

The Social Democrats also urged the new military chief to continue the army reforms.

The centre-right Radical Party encouraged the cabinet to be careful in selecting a new army head.

However, critics on both the left and the right are demanding more, and have called for Defence Minister Schmid’s head.

The rightwing Swiss People’s Party said Schmid, who split from the party, bears responsibility for the crisis.

The Greens said they were satisfied with Nef’s resignation, but argued Schmid is no longer the right man for the job.

swissinfo with agencies

allegations

Allegations of sexual harassment were leaked to the press earlier in July.

Nef admitted a criminal investigation had been underway against him for coercion of a former girlfriend while he was a candidate for the post of chief of the armed forces.

The case was settled out of court last autumn and Nef agreed to pay an undisclosed sum of money to the victim.

Nef also said he had not always acted judiciously at the end of his love affair, but refused to give further details.

He is suing a publishing house for alleged violation of personal rights. A complaint has also been filed over suspected breach of official secrecy rules.