Switzerland Today
Hello from Bern,
Where the vote Sunday of today, March 3, was perhaps less suspenseful than expected – both issues on the national ballot were more or less wrapped up as soon as polls closed at midday. The results, however, available in detail here, have been touted as “historic” – read on for a run-down of what happened.
Lucky number 13: left-wing parties celebrate resounding win
Never before had a people’s initiative launched by trade unions won over Swiss voters. That has now changed: a surprisingly large majority of 58.2% of citizens on Sunday said “yes” to boosting pensions via a new 13th monthly payment each year – a de facto gain of 8.33% for retirees’ wallets. Predictions that a majority of cantons – also a prerequisite for a successful initiative – could be tricky to achieve faded spectacularly; in the end, 15 of 23 regions voted in favour. And after a heated campaign, turnout was far above average, at 58%.
The resounding success is thus a “historic” one, as various supporters and analysts said on Sunday. Social Democrat Samuel Bendahan called it a “watershed” moment – the first time voters have accepted a left-wing initiative to expand social spending in the country. For once, “we are doing something for normal people” and not just the rich, he told the Keystone-SDA news agency. In a wealthy country like Switzerland, “everybody should benefit from the prosperity”. “The social pact in our country still works”, agreed trade union boss Pierre-Yves Maillard.
But what does this “historic” result mean for the future of Swiss votes? Will the appetite for such initiatives fade again if and when the economic situation eases? Some aren’t sure, and think that it marks a shift towards a new approach to the state: one less based on prudence and collective interest and more on egoistic voting. As the SonntagsZeitung newspaper bleakly put itExternal link today, “everybody wants more money”: whether farmers, the military, or pensioners, everybody now sees the state merely as a “cow for milking”, it complained.
Is it right? Let’s see in June, when another left-wing initiative to boost state spending – this time to cap the cost of health insurance premiums – comes to vote.
Hike in retirement age off the table – but for how long?
It was a clean sweep for the left today: as well as the 13th pension payment victory, a separate initiative to raise the retirement age to 66 was also walloped: just under 75% voted “no”. While this result was not a surprise, the extent of the defeat was bigger than polls suggested: not a single canton came out in favour. Trade unions and the left, who had opposed the idea, said it was “anti-social, technocratic, and anti-democratic”; they also said it discriminated against older people on the job market, who already have trouble finding a job when they become unemployed.
The youth section of the Radical-Liberal party – who had launched the initiative – sounded depressed but combative after the defeat. It was a “black day for young people”, the party lamented: the two results combined marked “the worst scenario for the future of the Swiss old-age pension system”. As life expectancy rises and the country is home to more and more older people, raising the retirement age at some point is inevitable, it said – while not admitting this is “cowardice in the face of reality”. It called on government and parliament to go back to the drawing board and present a plan to “renovate” the pension system.
Cantonal votes: yes to runways, no to walkways
Votes were not just held at the national level today: various cantons also decided on local issues. In Zurich, voters accepted a proposal to lengthen runways at the airport, but rejected the building of a public walkway around lake Zurich – a project which would have entailed encroaching on the private property of some lakeshore villa-dwellers. Voters also threw out a right-wing “anti-vandal” initiative to clamp down on violent demonstrations; however, they accepted a more moderate counter-idea which will mean demos in future will have to be approved in advance.
Elsewhere, Genevans faced a grand total of eight issues today. And the canton, which traditionally votes a lot, could do so even more in the future: citizens accepted a proposal to lower the amount of signatures needed to force a public vote. Some 63% said “yes” to sink the threshold from 8,307 to 5,538. Meanwhile, voters also decided to name a centuries-old song, “Cé qu’è lainô”, as the canton’s official hymn. The idea of cementing the song in law was launched by right-wing politicians, who wanted to head off any “woke” attacks against the ditty, which is about the city’s spirited defense against invaders in 1602. Now, some 400 years later, its feisty verses about strangling and hanging will grace the lines of Geneva’s constitution.
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