One year after Switzerland’s Council of States (upper house) voted in favour of controlling lobbyists’ access to parliament, the draft proposed implementation plan has been rejected by the commission in charge of it. Back in March 2016, the Council of States voted in favour of a parliamentary initiative put forward by state councillor Didier Berberat calling for those accessing parliament to […]
Swiss broadcasting fees should not go, says government commission
20 Minutes. Some who move to Switzerland might not be aware that they are almost certainly required to pay one of the world’s highest broadcasting licence fees. An annual Swiss licence costs CHF 451.10 per household. The onus is on you to determine if you are liable, sign up with Billag, a subsidiary of Swisscom, and pay. […]
Language defines national identity, says survey. What this means in multilingual Switzerland.
A recent Pew survey on national identity shows that speaking a nation’s language is by far the most important defining attribute. The Pew Research Center asked people from fourteen nations how important religion, following customs and tradition, being born in a country, and speaking the national language, were for defining national identity. The survey looked […]
Democracy’s decline: Switzerland now one of only 19 full democracies, says study
The latest Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit, entitled: Revenge of the “deplorables”, lists only 19 full democracies, down from 20 in 2015. 72 countries of the 167 surveyed, covering nearly the entire global population, experienced a decline in their total score compared with 2015. Now, only 4.5% of the world lives in a […]
Swiss fact: Switzerland’s president has no Twitter account
Political Twitter habits vary enormously across cultures and personalities. The US is at one end of the spectrum and Switzerland at the other. A look at some other European nations throws up a few surprises. US President elect Donald Trump seems to have decided he can govern in 140 characters. He currently has more than […]
With no fanfare or idealogical division Switzerland gets a new president
Today, Switzerland announced its new president for 2017. 53-year-old Swiss Christian Democrat party member, Doris Leuthard, will take over from outgoing president Johann Schneider-Ammann on 1 January 2017, less than three weeks before the scheduled start of Donald Trump’s term as US president. Her term will last one year. His will last four. Born in […]
Proposal to strip Swiss politicians of first class train passes
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 […]
