20 Minutes. National Councillor Lukas Reimann of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SG) would like to see Swiss politicians, public servants and Swiss Rail staff stripped of their free annual first class Swiss Rail passes. He thinks they should be offered second class passes instead. From 11 December an annual first class pass on Swiss Rail […]
Plan to reverse Vaud begging ban contrasts with widespread bans at commune level
24 Heures. On 27 September 2016, the canton of Vaud decided to ban begging after the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) launched an initiative to make it illegal. Vaud’s state government voted for the move with 60 votes for, 56 against, and 5 abstentions. In response to the ban the Socialist Party and others started collecting signatures […]
Swiss fact: women were the majority in Switzerland’s cabinet from 2010 to 2012
In September 2010, Simonetta Sommaruga was elected to Switzerland’s seven member executive. She joined Micheline Calmy-Rey, Doris Leuthard and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf along with three male members: Didier Burkhalter, Ueli Maurer and Johann Schneider-Ammann, creating the first female executive majority since the creation of the Federal Council in 1848. All four of these women have served as […]
Deadline for overseas US voter registration fast approaching
The US presidential election is on 8 November 2016. Overseas voters from some US states have only until 8 October to register. A full list of state registration dates can be found here. Most recent polls put Democratic contender Hillary Clinton in the lead, however a 12 September poll by the Los Angeles Times shows Clinton […]
Swiss police search the house of train attacker
Tages Anzeiger. Around 2:20pm on 13 August 2016, a 27 year old man attacked passengers on a train travelling through the St. Gallen Rhine Valley as the train approached the town of of Salez, according to the Swiss-German newspaper Tages Anzeiger. Salez is in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, close to the border with […]
What Switzerland must do in the face of terrorism
Tribune de Genève. After the terrorist attack in Nice, Geneva state councillor in charge of security, Pierre Maudet, is calling for better police training in the face of the danger posed by jihadists. He told the Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, that specialised antiterrorism training of police personnel is required so officers can neutralise terrorists immediately when […]
Could foreigners be required to do Swiss military service?
Requiring foreign residents to undertake military service is one option explored in a government sponsored report published last week. The current system requires all able young male Swiss citizens to do military service. In 1985 there were around 45,000 eligible men. By 2014 this number had dropped to about 37,000. Estimates for 2035 are between 36,000 […]
Photos of the inside of a new Swiss prison
After investing CHF 21.8 million on transformation and renovation work, a prison in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel, now has 102 new prison cells. On 18 March 2008, the canton’s leaders voted unanimously to invest in the project to transform existing buildings, some as old as 130 years, into a new prison facility. […]
No laughing matter – French satirist makes fun of Switzerland’s president
The French satire news show Le Petit Journal recently made fun of a speech made by Swiss president Johann Schneider-Ammann. The speech, made to commemorate Switzerland’s day of the sick on 1 March 2016, recommends laughter to those suffering from illness. The message however, is delivered with no trace of humour. This absence of humour now has […]
Swiss vote to automatically expel foreign criminals. Sensible or perverse?
In 2010, 52.9% of Swiss voters agreed that foreigners convicted of certain crimes should be deported. Following the vote, in March 2015, Switzerland’s parliament approved laws enacting the measure. The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), the vote’s organiser, cried foul, claimed the new laws watered down the original text, and proposed a more rigid formulation that voters […]
