This week, an initiative aimed at convincing Swiss voters to support a proposal to introduce a system of universal service for all Swiss citizens was rejected by parliament, reported SRF.
Only one party, the Liberal Green Party, supported the proposal. All other major parties were against the idea.
Those supporting the idea claim it would solve the issue of under staffing suffered by the organisations supported by the current system, which forces only men to undertake public service, mainly by serving in the military. Women can join on a voluntary basis, but very few do. The organisers also believe the gender discrimination in the current system needs to be fixed.
However, most parties do not agree with these argument. Many see the plan as impractical, leaving the main question unanswered: who will be required to serve in the military? In addition, there are concerns about the impact of taking so many people out of the workforce. Others see the idea as coercive and believe it would be better for people to volunteer, although the same argument could be applied to Switzerland’s current system of universal male conscription.
There is also the difficult question of what would be included in community service? Would it include being a football coach or a Scout leader?
The gender equality argument in favour of the proposal was also rejected by most of the parties. By contrast, a online poll at the end of the SRF article shows 69% in favour of requiring women to do some kind of community service.
The Socialist Party would like to see a cut in working hours instead, proposing a working week of 38 hours, although such a counterproposal is unlikely to find sufficient support among other parties, particularly at a time when the economy is struggling to generate enough tax revenue to fund government expenditure.
Earlier, the Federal Council rejected the initiative without a counterproposal. It said that it believes the current system of compulsory male military conscription should continue to apply in the future to support Switzerland’s security. In addition it voiced concerns that the labour market would be short of workers if women were also required to serve in some way.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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