Ten referendums were held in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
during 2008. The first two were held on 24 February on business tax reform and aircraft noise. A further three were held on 1 June on public information campaigns, naturalisation and health reform. The final five were held on 30 November on legalising cannabis, making the pension age flexible, restricting the right of appeal of associations against construction projects, amending the constitutional article on narcotics and eliminating the statute of limitations with respect to pornographic crimes against children.
February referendums
The two February questions were held on:
*A facultative referendum on the business tax reform II – A coalition of parties and organisations (including the
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (, SP; ), also called the Swiss Socialist Party (; , PS), is a List of political parties in Switzerland, political party in Switzerland. The SP has had two representatives on the Federal Council (Switzerl ...
, the
Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, the
Green Party of Switzerland
The Green Party of Switzerland (; ; ; ) is a green political party in Switzerland. It is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council.
History
The first ...
, the
Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland, the
Christian Social Party, the
Swiss Labour Party,
ATTAC Switzerland,
Travail.Suisse
Travail.Suisse is a trade union federation in Switzerland.
History
The federation was formed in December 2002 by the merger of the Christian National Union Confederation (CNG) and the Confederation of Swiss Employees' Associations (VSA). Through ...
) collected about 65,000 signatures by early July 2007, thus meeting the required number of signatures for a facultative referendum.
*A people's initiative against fighter aircraft noise in tourism areas – seeking to forbid training flights of fighter aircraft over tourism areas in times of peace.
June referendums
The three referendums in June were held on:
* people's initiative against publicly funded information campaigns by the government, also known as the "muzzle initiative";
* people's initiative for democratic naturalisation, which was trying to retain the right of deciding on the naturalisation of foreign citizens through a vote at municipal level;
* counterproposal to the withdrawn people's initiative on the ''
Krankenversicherungsgesetz''.
All three questions were rejected in the
referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
. The most controversial initiative was the proposal to allow local communities to hold popular votes on the
naturalisation
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
of foreigners with no right of appeal.
Naturalisation
Switzerland has one of the largest number of foreign residents in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
with foreigners making up over 20% of residents. In order to gain
citizenship
Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state.
Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...
people must have lived in Switzerland for 12 years and have passed tests on the language and culture of Switzerland. In July 2003 the
Swiss Supreme court blocked the holding of popular votes by local communities to decide on the naturalisation of immigrants who live in that community.
The Supreme Court acted after a vote in
Emmen in which eight
Italians
Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...
were approved but 48
Eastern European
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...
and
Turkish candidates were rejected. The court ruled that they had been discriminated against on religious and ethnic grounds and said that all applicants had the right to know the reason for rejection.
The
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...
(SVP) brought an initiative forward to permit such popular votes to take place.
[
During the campaign on naturalisation votes the SVP sent literature out detailing crimes committed by people who had been granted citizenship.][ They also produced ]billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
s showing black, brown and white hands reaching for Swiss passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...
s and saying "Stop the Mass Naturalizations". They argued the measure was needed due an eightfold increase in naturalisations between 1991 and 2006.
The government and the four other main political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
opposed the naturalisation referendum and preferred the existing system where elected bodies took the decision and where there is a right to appeal.[ In May 2008 a group of 72 professors of constitutional law produced newspaper adverts urging people to reject the measure.] Opponents argued that the measure was unconstitutional and violated international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
.[
A ]poll
Poll, polled, or polling may refer to:
Forms of voting and counting
* Poll, a formal election
** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts
** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions
** Polling pla ...
on the referendum in April showed support for the measure but another in May showed only 33% supporting the measure, 56% against and 11% undecided.
In order for the initiative to pass a majority of Swiss cantons would have had to support it as well as a majority of voters. In the end only one of the 26 cantons, Schwyz
Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland.
The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''.
The of ...
, supported the initiative. Some cantons, such as Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
and Vaud
Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...
, had up to 82% of voters against the measure.[
Internal disputes within the People's Party and the lack of a clear message in favour of the proposal were seen as reasons for the defeat of the measure. The government welcomed the results of the referendum saying that they showed people had confidence in the authorities.]
Government information
This question asked voters to restrict the information that the government could provide before referendums. The measure would have prevented members of the government from giving their opinions on topics that were to be voted on in a referendum. Supporters, including the People's Party, argued the government should not be providing what they described as propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
at the expense of the taxpayers. The measure had been proposed due to what they described as excessive government propaganda on foreign policy questions.[ However opponents, including most other political parties, argued it was the job of the government to provide their opinion on referendums.][
]
Health reform
This measure was intended to reform the health sector by reducing expenditures and increasing the role of insurer
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...
s.[ The measure would have amended the ]constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
to give an outline of the health care system including the principles of competition and free choice. It was designed to increase competition within the health insurance sector. However opponents feared it would bolster the position of insurance companies, give higher costs for patients and restrict access to doctors. It was supported by the government but opposed by the Social Democratic
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
and Christian Democrat
Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian ethics#Politics, Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics.
Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo ...
parties.[
]
November referendums
In the November referendums Swiss voters rejected initiatives aiming at a legalisation of cannabis, at a flexibilisation of the pension age and at restricting the right of appeal of associations against construction projects. They accepted the revision of the federal statute on narcotics and, as a surprise result, the elimination of the statute of limitations with respect to pornographic crimes against children.
Elimination of the statute of limitations with respect to pornographic crimes against children
The initiative "for the elimination of the statute of limitations with respect to pornographic crimes against children" (, ) provided for an amendment to the Swiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; (BV); (Cst.); (Cost.); ) of 18 April 1999 (SR 101) is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland.
It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of ...
, introducing a new article 123b stating that "the prosecution of sexual or pornographic infractions against prepubescent children, as well as the penalty for such infractions, are not subject to the statute of limitations
A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
".
The initiative was submitted on 1 March 2006 by " Marche Blanche", an association of victims of child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...
and their relatives, with 119,375 valid signatures.[Swiss Federal Assembly website.] The proponents of the initiative argued that victims of pedophilia
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...
often take a long time to become old enough and muster the courage to bring the perpetrators, who are often members of their immediate family, to justice. Therefore, according to the proponents, the statute of limitations often has the effect of preventing the effective prosecution of child sexual abuse.
The Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...
and the Swiss Federal Assembly recommended that the initiative be rejected. The National Council opposed the initiative with 163 against 19 votes, the Council of States unanimously. All political parties in Switzerland with the exception of the Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...
and the Federal Democratic Union also opposed the initiative. The federal authorities argued that the initiative was vaguely phrased, making reference to the puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...
of children, a developmental phase often difficult to exactly pinpoint in time and varying among children. They noted that the statute of limitations was necessary to prevent useless prosecutions, because after dozens of years the testimony of witnesses was often not reliable enough to secure a conviction. In the opinion of the federal authorities, imprescriptibility should remain reserved for crimes of exceptional gravity such as genocide
Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
and terrorist acts. Finally, the federal authorities argued that a previous change in law had already accomplished much of what the proponents desired, fixing the period of prescription at 15 years starting with the 18th birthday of the victim.
Legalisation of the personal consumption and production of cannabis
The initiative "for a sensible cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
policy with effective protection of the youth" (, ) provided for an amendment to the Federal Constitution. It would have introduced a new article 105b declaring the consumption, purchase and production of cannabis for personal use to be legal, while charging the federal authorities with ensuring an adequate protection of the Swiss youth.
The initiative was submitted on 13 January 2006 by a committee of left-wing and liberal politicians with 105,994 valid signatures. The proponents of the initiative argued that the prohibition of cannabis was ineffective, as attested by some 600,000 consumers of the drug in Switzerland, and should be lifted.
The Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...
and the Swiss Federal Assembly recommended that the initiative be rejected. The National Council opposed the initiative with 111 against 73 votes, the Council of States with 19 against 18. Among the political parties in Switzerland, only the liberal and left-wing parties and the youth wing of the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party (, FDP; , PLD), also called Radical Democratic Party (, PRD; , PLR) was a liberal political party in Switzerland. Formerly one of the major parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of ...
supported the initiative.
Revision of the federal statute on narcotics
The revision of the federal statute on narcotics (, ) was adopted on 20 March 2008 by the Swiss Federal Assembly, with the National Council passing the law by 114 to 68 votes and the Council of States unanimously. It provided for a statutory basis for the Swiss strategy against illegal drugs
Illegal may refer to:
Law
* Violation of law
** Crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and uni ...
practiced since 1999, which consists of four pillars: prevention, harm reduction, therapy and repression. Most controversially, the revision allowed for a continuation of the governmental distribution of heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
to heavily addicted persons.
Objecting to that programme and demanding a strict policy of prohibition, a committee of conservative politicians of the Federal Democratic Union and Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...
collected 51,969 valid signatures against the change in law, thereby subjecting it to a popular referendum.Swiss Federal Chancellery press release
, 22 July 2008.
Restriction of the right of associations to appeal against building projects
The initiative for the restriction of the right of associations to appeal against building projects (, ) provided for an amendment to the Federal Constitution. It would have introduced a new article 30a, which would have removed the standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an upright (orthostatic) position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the ...
of environmental organizations to take legal action against construction projects approved by popular vote or by a federal, cantonal or municipal legislature.
Flexible state pension age
The initiative "for a flexible state pension age" (, ) provided for an amendment to the Federal Constitution. It would have introduced a new article art. 112 par. 2 littera e, which would have allowed most people to retire without the loss of state benefits at the age of 62 instead of at the age of 65 for men or 64 for women.
References
External links
;Official information about the referendums:
*
*
* Voter information by the Swiss Federal Council (PDF).
;Campaign websites:
*
*
*
*
{{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
Referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
2008 referendums
Corporate taxation
Pension referendums
2008 in cannabis