Swiss Population Cap Has 45% Support Despite Government Pushback
(Bloomberg) — A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the country’s population at 10 million still has strong support from the public despite repeated pushback by politicians and business leaders against such a move.
Support for the measure, which the population will vote on in June, was at 45% in a new poll released Tuesday, compared with 48% in November. That’s likely to worry the government, which just a day earlier held a press conference to issue a fresh call to the public to reject the measure.
The People’s Party, or SVP, has long campaigned against immigration and argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. Opponents of the cap warn that it risks harming prosperity, particularly as it would severely limit companies’ abilities to recruit from abroad.
Support within the electorate is driven primarily by backers of the SVP, but is also relatively strong among voters of the center-right liberal party and the centrists, according to pollster LeeWas. Backing is broadly consistent across age groups, though voters aged 65 and older are the most skeptical.
The government on Monday urged voters not to support the plan, warning that it would force Switzerland to quit the free-movement accord it has with the neighboring European Union, its biggest trading partner.
This would come at a time when the Swiss are trying to put their relations with the bloc on a firmer footing.
“It wouldn’t be enough to just close the borders to refugees, as campaigners claim,” Justice Minister Beat Jans said. “From this plan, no apartment gets cheaper, no train emptier and no traffic jam will dissolve.”
Several high-profile corporate executives have backed the government’s call, along with unions and employer organizations, touting the Swiss economy’s reliance on foreign workers. According to Fabio Regazzi, president of small-business lobby Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts, one in three workers in the country isn’t a Swiss national.
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