May 4 – More Swiss parliamentarians have joined calls for the nation’s attorney general Michael Lauber to resign after the five-year statute of limitations in the 2006 World Cup fraud investigation expired last week with no verdicts.
After the Conservative MP Lorenz Hess filed a request for a dismissal procedure to be initiated last week, saying Lauber’s position was no longer tenable, other political groups are now also demanding he steps down.
Following a meeting on Saturday, the socialist group indicated it could no longer support the state prosecutor who has come under severe pressure, particularly over his controversial undocumented meetings with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino.
The group’s leader Roger Nordmann was quoted as saying: “Michael Lauber must now suffer the consequences and resign. Otherwise, the socialist group will support the motion opening an indictment procedure.”
All Switzerland’s federal parties, with the exception of the Liberal-radical Party (PLR), one of whose leaders, Christian Lüscher, is reported to be a long-time friend of Lauber, are now reported to be opposed to him continuing.
The vice-president of the Judicial Commission and social democratic deputy Matthias Aebischer was quoted as saying: “The damage caused to the institutions is immense. If the federal prosecutor does not resign on his own initiative now, I will support the impeachment procedure, because things cannot continue like this.”
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