Plans for a nationwide vote aimed at abolishing Daylight Saving Time in Switzerland have failed after campaigners gave up efforts for their people’s initiative.
A spokeswoman for the initiative group said they collected less than 50,000 signatures over the past 16 months and there was no chance of reaching the 100,000 signatures necessary before the deadline of December 20.
“Citizens seem to have other priorities at the moment,” Yvette Estermann told the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA on Tuesday.
The parliamentarian of the conservative right Swiss People’s Party was referring to the Covid-19 pandemic. She said she hoped that efforts in neighbouring countries to do away with a changing of the clocks twice a year would continue, keeping up the pressure on the Swiss government.
Switzerland introduced Daylight Saving Time in 1981 in spite of voters’ rejection of the proposal at the ballot box three years before.
Clocks fall back one hour this Sunday and will spring forward one hour next March in line with Central European Time.
Money for consumers
In another development, a committee on Tuesday started collecting signatures for a proposal to give CHF7,500 ($8,260) to every Swiss citizen.
The tax-free hand-out is to come from the National Bank in a bid to boost consumer spending, according to the campaigners.
They have until April 2022 to collect the necessary signatures for a possible nationwide vote.
There are currently 13 other people’s initiatives underway at the signature collecting stage – but four of them have failed to clear this initial hurdle.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Prevention and tech could help save billions on Swiss healthcare costs, says Deloitte
This content was published on
By focusing on prevention and technology, it would be possible to reduce Switzerland's healthcare bill by CHF30 billion a year by 2040, according to Deloitte Switzerland.
Environment director warns of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland
This content was published on
The director of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has warned of increasing climate-related risks in Switzerland in an interview with SonntagsBlick on Sunday.
Gotthard traffic queue hits 11km at start of holiday season
This content was published on
The start of the summer holidays saw a long traffic jam in front of the Gotthard tunnel on Saturday. Traffic jams between Erstfeld and Göschenen in canton Uri were up to 11 kilometres long early in the morning.
This content was published on
The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.
This content was published on
The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.
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.
Read more
More
The century-old fight over an hour of daylight
This content was published on
A look into the history books shows Daylight Saving Time has been a hotly debated political issue in Switzerland for 100 years.
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.