The votes have been counted. The Swiss Statistics Office charts below show results by canton and district. The initiatives to pay an unconditional income, to change the way state-owned companies are run, and to spend further fuel tax on transport infrastructure have all been rejected. The vote on changes to asylum law has been accepted […]
Swiss federal votes – Sunday 5 June 2016
This coming Sunday 5 June 2016, Swiss will vote on a number of federal and cantonal initiatives. The five votes on the federal ballot this Sunday are set out in this article. The vote attracting the greatest international attention is the proposal to pay every adult an unconditional income of CHF 2,500 a month, and […]
Is making profits good for Switzerland’s state-owned companies?
Initiative: In favour of public services Despite being majority owned by the state, Swisscom, Swiss Rail, and Swiss Post are all profit-driven: the Swiss government owns 51 percent of Swisscom and 100 percent of Switzerland’s rail and post businesses. For backers of the initiative, seeking profit stands in the way of these enterprises providing good levels […]
Are Swiss drivers being unfairly milked by the government?
Initiative: In favour of fair traffic financing Currently, not all of Switzerland’s fuel tax is allocated to improving and expanding Switzerland’s infrastructure, some of it flows into the overall Federal budget. Restricting fuel taxes to the road The Swiss People’s party (UDC/SVP) along with representatives from a broad selection of parties and interest groups, want all tax gained […]
Swiss vote on designer baby controversy
The Swiss Evangelical People’s Party (EVP/PEV) has launched an initiative to counter the law on reproductive medicine, which allows all embryos fertilised outside the uterus (in-vitro) to be genetically tested. Under the law, the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) on foetuses in-vitro is possible for carriers of genetically inherited disorders and for patients undergoing regular fertility treatment […]
Free legal advice for asylum seekers. Naive or sensible?
With amendments to asylum law, the Swiss government aims to speed up the asylum process, cut costs and ensure a fairer process for asylum seekers. Current asylum claims can last up to 400 days. The revision sets to cap this at a maximum of 100 days and 140 days in exceptional cases. During this period, asylum […]
Should Swiss families get CHF 75,000 a year to do nothing?
A mixed group of intellectuals, artists and activists are behind the initiative to give an unconditional basic income to every Swiss resident, regardless of whether they work. Supporters say monthly payments of CHF 2,500 CHF for each adult and CHF 625 per child, would enable us to cover our basic living costs and allow us to live […]
New tax to pay for new minimum Swiss income?
20 Minutes. According to 20 Minutes, those behind this June’s vote proposing a minimum income, have come up with a new way to fund it. They want a tax on electronic transactions. The initiative calls for an unconditional minimum monthly income of CHF 2,500 for each adult and CHF 625 for each child. The projected annual cost […]
Making foreigners feel unwelcome in Switzerland. It was worse in the 1970s.
A documentary, called The Schwarzenbach Years (Les Années Schwarzenbach), recounts Swiss disdain for foreigners in the 1970s. Clear parallels can be seen between then and now. The film will be shown at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva on 9 March 2016 at 14:30. Last weekend Last Sunday, close to 59% of Swiss voters rejected […]
After the vote the UDC poster with the black and white sheep gets a makeover
As the Swiss referendum to automatically expel foreign criminals looks set to fail the hashtag #happysheeps has sprung up on Twitter. Here is a selection of Tweets: Quand Twitter se moque de la défaite de l’#UDC #CHvote #UDC > Tous les #happysheeps https://t.co/68pQzov0Pa pic.twitter.com/osLumuPC7T — Le Matin (@Lematinch) 28 février 2016 Résultats acruels du #CHvote […]
