Swiss papers: neutrality vote a ‘total defeat’ for People’s Party

All cantons and about 70% of voters rejected the proposal for a strictly defined version of neutrality to be written into the Swiss constitution. Keystone-SDA

The neutrality initiative’s defeat on Sunday came as little surprise to much of the Swiss media. The clear rejection strengthens the Federal Council’s position and marks a setback for Swiss People's Party's billionaire backer, Christoph Blocher, who was a prominent supporter of the initiative.

The 70% of votes against the initiative is “a final verdict for those who were aiming for strict neutrality as an end in itself”, said the Corriere del Ticino in an editorial. The clear result also represents “an endorsement of the policy” of parliament and the government. The initiative, it says, “was a total defeat, which precludes any serious chance of a revival”.

“A verdict with no appeal,” is how the La Regione described Sunday’s resounding result. On Sunday, 70.2% rejected the “neutrality initiative”. The Ticino-based newspaper said the result “averts the risk of dogmatising what remains, after all, a mere – albeit important – instrument of Swiss foreign policy: a means, not an end, which as such must be able to continue to be used with the necessary flexibility, depending on the circumstances that arise around the world”.

The NZZ called it an “irrevocable result”. But it said “Christoph Blocher’s initiative” – which he funded to the tune of almost CHF4 million – stood no chance from the outset.

Swiss-German newspapers belonging to the Tamedia group said the it represents a “personal defeat” for the former government minister, who apparently “failed even to convince his own party”.

Blick, meanwhile, talks about a “gradual shift” away from Blocher’s influence. The rallying cry was not just “everyone against the People’s Party”, but “everyone against Blocher”, it said. The next step will concern the important issue of the European Union, which, Blick says, is likely to be entrusted to his daughter Magdalena Martullo-Blocher.

According to La Liberté, Sunday’s result was a “masterful blow dealt by the Swiss public” and “a clear signal to Blocher”.

The French-speaking daily Le Temps also called it a “defeat” for the former minister, whose personal commitment “was not enough, just as the millions he spent out of his own pocket were not enough”.

“You can buy posters in every corner of the country and newspaper advertisements (…) but a popular majority remains harder to buy,” said the ESH group newspapers (Le Nouvelliste, ArcInfo and La Côte), referring to Blocher’s costly campaign.

The People’s Party “is not enjoying a particularly favourable spell at the ballot box”, said Le Temps, highlighting the party’s third defeat of the year. The latest setback “hits particularly hard” because it concerns one of the party’s flagship issues. Conversely, this resounding ‘no’ also represents ‘a resounding “yes”’ to the way in which the Federal Council applies neutrality, it says. This is the first time that this approach has received such a strong endorsement from the public, said the paper.

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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.