The canton of Geneva could ask Bern to issue a humanitarian visa to Julian Assange, the 48 year old WikiLeaks founder, according to the newspaper Tribune de Genève. Jean Rossiaud, a member of the canton’s parliament and the Green party, is behind the project. Last week he confirmed on Swiss television that he had met […]
Geneva considers more voting rights for foreigners
The government of the canton of Geneva is considering extending voting rights to some of the canton’s large population of foreign residents, according to Tribune de Genève. 41% of the canton’s population are not Swiss. The plan, supported by a majority of a commission (8 votes to 5 with 1 abstention) looking at the idea, […]
Switzerland set to restrict lobbyists from government
Last week, a government commission decided to restrict lobbying on government commissions, according to the newspaper Le Temps. Currently, members of government commissions, which guide voting by elected officials, can take any sum of money from industry. Critics argue this means commission-member votes can be bought. Council of States member Beat Rieder wants to ban […]
The Swiss company that spied on the world
Yesterday, the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, announced it was investigating Crypto AG, a company with ties to the CIA and West German intelligence (BND). The Federal Council obtained information on Crypto in November 2019, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS. Parliamentarian Balthasar Glättli has called for a more in-depth investigation and the creation of a parliamentary […]
Swiss vote results on affordable home quota and discrimination – 9 February 2020
The vote on an affordable housing quota was rejected by 57.1% of voters. The participation rate was 41%. Only five cantons had majorities in favour of the plan: Basel-City (60.2% in favour), Geneva (60.1%), Vaud (53.2%), Jura (53.2%) and Neuchâtel (56.2%). The other 21 Swiss cantons had majorities against the plan. The government’s plan to […]
Swiss to vote on banning discrimination based on sexual orientation – 9 Feb 2020
The government decided to extend the existing legal ban on racism and religious discrimination to discrimination based on sexual orientation. Some, who see this as limit to free expression and a form of censorship, launched a referendum to stop the government’s plan. In addition, they argue hate crimes are already punishable under the law. If […]
Swiss to vote on affordable housing quota – 9 Feb 2020
Economic and population growth have increased demand for housing in Switzerland. The period leading up to 2015 saw a fall in the number of available homes in urban areas in Switzerland. Rental prices continued to rise beyond 2015 into 2016. The initiative aims to impose a rule requiring 10% of new homes to be controlled […]
Ticino requires smokers to clock out for smoke breaks
From the beginning of February 2020, employees working for the canton of Ticino will need to clock out if they want to go for a cigarette break, according to RTS. The new rule, which is the first of its kind in Switzerland, follows comments made last year by a parliamentarian who pointed out the favourable […]
Poverty rate falls slightly in Switzerland
In 2018, the percentage of the population in Switzerland living below the poverty line fell from 8.2% (2017) to 7.9%, returning to the same level as it was in 2010. Most affected by poverty were those aged under 18 (9.6%) and those aged over 64 (13.7%). Single parent families (19.3%), those without tertiary education (12.7%) […]
Swiss government wants to quickly change laws to allow gay marriage
Switzerland’s Federal Council announced that it would like to quickly give gay couples the right to marry, according to RTS. It also said that it did not think the change would require changing the constitution and could be achieved by changing laws. It would like to see legal changes that would make it easy for couples […]
