Minaret initiative divides opinion
A proposal by rightwing political parties to ban the construction of minarets appears to have limited backing among the Swiss.
Around 37 per cent of respondents said they agreed with the ban, while nearly 50 per cent came out against the proposal, according to a survey published on Friday.
A further 14 per cent of those interviewed said they were undecided.
The poll was carried out among 1,000 people in the German and French-speaking regions a month ago on behalf of the Protestant church newspaper, Reformiert.
The report says most supporters of the proposal consider themselves close to the Swiss People’s Party.
The House of Representatives in March overwhelmingly recommended rejection of the proposal, but no date has been set for the nationwide vote.
In Switzerland, only the mosques in Geneva, Zurich, Wangen near Olten and Winterthur have minarets.
swissinfo with agencies
More
No house generation: the impossibility of buying property in Switzerland
More
UK and Switzerland open way for direct rail link
More
Online quarrel reveals Swiss life of luxury of Cameroon’s ruling family
More
Cross purposes: the unique Swiss flag
More
Geneva fights to remain ‘kitchen’ of world diplomacy as Trump cuts bite
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.