Swiss political parties reveal their colours

Not sure who to vote for ahead of Swiss federal elections on October 18? swissinfo.ch asked the country’s main political parties where they stand on key issues such as relations with the European Union, immigration and banking secrecy.

• Are bilateral accords with the EU indispensable for Switzerland?
• Should the mass immigration initiative be strictly implemented?
• Should the government be able to intervene in exchange rates, or should the Swiss National Bank (SNB) continue to have full independence?
• Should banking secrecy also be dropped for Swiss citizens?
• Should renewable energies receive more funds?
• Does Switzerland place too much value on public transport – to the detriment of private transport?
• Is the army’s current budget enough?
• Should the list of benefits for basic health insurance be limited in order to combat rising health costs?
• Should the age of retirement be adjusted given increasing life expectancy?
• Is it too easy to get social welfare in Switzerland?
• Should the asylum policy be tightened further?
• Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
• Should funds for development aid be increased?
• Should Swiss law come before international law?
• Should the right to launch initiatives be limited?

We received no information from the Christian Social Party Obwalden, which has one seat in the House of Representatives

Are bilateral accords with the EU indispensable for Switzerland?
Swiss People’s Party	No
Social Democratic Party	For the moment yes
Radical Party	Yes
Christian Democratic Party	Yes
Green Party	Yes
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	Yes
Protestant Party	Yes
Lega dei ticinesi	No
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	No

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Should the mass immigration initiative be strictly implemented?
Swiss People’s Party	Yes
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	Yes
Christian Democratic Party	Yes, but without jeopardising relations with the EU
Green Party	No. An EU-compatible arrangement is needed in order to retain the bilateral accords
Liberal Green Party	No. Retaining the bilateral path with the EU has priority
Conservative Democratic Party	The will of the people should be respected without jeopardising the bilateral accords
Protestant Party	It’s dangerous to question a referendum. We must renegotiate within the framework of the bilateral accords
Lega dei ticinesi	Yes
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Yes

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Should the government be able to intervene in exchange rates, or should the Swiss National Bank (SNB) continue to have full independence?
Swiss People’s Party	Independence
Social Democratic Party	Independence, but the SNB should be accountable to parliament
Radical Party	Independence
Christian Democratic Party	Independence
Green Party	Independence
Liberal Green Party	Independence
Conservative Democratic Party	Independence
Protestant Party	Independence
Lega dei ticinesi	The government should keep a certain room to manoeuvre open regarding intervention
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Independence

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Should banking secrecy also be dropped for Swiss citizens?
Swiss People’s Party	No
Social Democratic Party	Yes
Radical Party	No
Christian Democratic Party	This issue must be discussed
Green Party	Yes
Liberal Green Party	We lean towards no
Conservative Democratic Party	No, but it shouldn’t be abused in order to hide criminal behaviour
Protestant Party	Yes
Lega dei ticinesi	No
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	No

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Should renewable energies receive more funds?
Swiss People’s Party	No
Social Democratic Party	Yes
Radical Party	Yes, with incentives but without subsidies
Christian Democratic Party	Yes, but without distorting the market
Green Party	Yes
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	Yes
Protestant Party	First an incentive scheme for renewable energies must be promoted
Lega dei ticinesi	No
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Yes

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Does Switzerland place too much value on public transport – to the detriment of private transport?
Swiss People’s Party	Yes
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	No. A joint development of the entire transport system is needed
Christian Democratic Party	No. Road and rail are not in competition – they complement each other
Green Party	No. More value should be placed on ‘soft mobility’ (enabling people to get around without a car)
Liberal Green Party	No
Conservative Democratic Party	It’s not necessary to set the two forms of transport against each other
Protestant Party	No. Public transport has ‘right of way’
Lega dei ticinesi	Yes. Car drivers are criminalised and fleeced – in particular by Via Sicura (a government programme to reduce road accidents)
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Yes

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Is the army’s current budget enough?
Swiss People’s Party	No
Social Democratic Party	Yes
Radical Party	We support an army with a budget of CHF5 billion
Christian Democratic Party	Yes
Green Party	Yes, by a large margin
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	Yes
Protestant Party	Yes
Lega dei ticinesi	Yes, but the current level should not be reduced
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	No. We must maintain a strong and credible army

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Should the list of benefits for basic health insurance be limited in order to combat rising health costs?
Swiss People’s Party	Yes
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	Yes
Christian Democratic Party	No, but the benefits should be steered towards quality and effectiveness
Green Party	No. What’s needed are more health promotion programmes and a better organisation of the system
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	Not necessarily, but no new ones should be added
Protestant Party	No, but the health system should be made more transparent
Lega dei ticinesi	Yes
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	No. What’s needed is a general reform of the system and not ineffective half-measures

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Should the age of retirement be adjusted given increasing life expectancy?
Swiss People’s Party	Yes
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	Yes, we need a flexible age of retirement
Christian Democratic Party	No
Green Party	No. Rather we need a sliding pension system that takes into account the age at which people start working
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	Yes
Protestant Party	Yes. Raising the retirement age is preferable to lowering pensions
Lega dei ticinesi	No. Older employees are already excluded too much from the labour market
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Yes, but the sliding age of retirement should be handled flexibly

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Is it too easy to get social welfare in Switzerland?
Swiss People’s Party	Yes
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	Yes. Currently there are abuses of the system which need to be sorted out
Christian Democratic Party	No
Green Party	No
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	No, but controls should not be relaxed
Protestant Party	No, although priorities must be reviewed and more weight placed on reintegration into the workplace
Lega dei ticinesi	Yes, immigrants in particular
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Yes. There are not enough controls

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Should the asylum policy be tightened further?
Swiss People’s Party	Yes
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	No. The existing measures should be applied
Christian Democratic Party	No. The priority is applying the existing legislation
Green Party	No
Liberal Green Party	We lean towards no, but cases should be dealt with faster and abuses dealt with firmly
Conservative Democratic Party	No
Protestant Party	No. The international context should be taken into account. But cases must be dealt with faster
Lega dei ticinesi	Yes
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Yes

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Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
Swiss People’s Party	No
Social Democratic Party	Yes
Radical Party	We have supported reforms for a registered partnership
Christian Democratic Party	No
Green Party	Yes. They should also have the right to adopt
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	Yes
Protestant Party	No
Lega dei ticinesi	No
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	No. A registered partnership is enough

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Should funds for development aid be increased?
Swiss People’s Party	No
Social Democratic Party	Yes
Radical Party	Yes
Christian Democratic Party	No. Parliament has committed to raising funds to 0.5% of GDP. We support that
Green Party	Yes. The budget should be raised from 0.5% to 0.7% of GDP, the target of the UN
Liberal Green Party	Yes
Conservative Democratic Party	No
Protestant Party	Yes. Development aid must be raised to at least 0.7% of GDP
Lega dei ticinesi	No. They should be reduced
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	No

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Should Swiss law come before international law?
Swiss People’s Party	Yes
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	No, but international law should be approved by the Swiss before being implemented
Christian Democratic Party	In principle yes, but obligatory standards of international law take precedence over national law
Green Party	No
Liberal Green Party	No
Conservative Democratic Party	Yes
Protestant Party	When it’s a question of human rights, the Swiss can’t go their own way. International law guarantees basic rights in Switzerland
Lega dei ticinesi	Yes
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	Yes

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Should the right to launch initiatives be limited?
Swiss People’s Party	No
Social Democratic Party	No
Radical Party	No
Christian Democratic Party	No, but some regulations should be clarified
Green Party	Yes. Initiatives must respect the principles of the European Human Rights Convention
Liberal Green Party	No
Conservative Democratic Party	No
Protestant Party	No. The right to launch initiatives represents a democratic and valuable achievement and is an indispensable counterforce of the people
Lega dei ticinesi	No
Geneva Citizens‘ Movement	No

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