Cluster: Democracy

Voters urged to reject cap on executive pay

This content was published on Sep 27, 2013 As anger at multi-million dollar payouts for executives has spread around the globe since the financial crisis, Swiss voters forged ahead in March by backing some of the world’s strictest controls on executive pay, forcing public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation. Now, the so-called 1:12 initiative, which faces a popular vote…

Democracy

‘No army’ brand proves a political handicap

This content was published on Sep 27, 2013 While there was little chance that conscription would be scrapped, no one could foresee the thumping defeat inflicted on the anti-army association last Sunday. Almost three out of four voters came out against its initiative to end the draft and introduce a professional army of volunteers, compared to one-third of voters who supported doing away…

Democracy

Ticino burka vote could spawn others

This content was published on Sep 25, 2013 On September 22, Italian-speaking Ticino became the first Swiss canton to accept such a ban, with more than 65 per cent of voters in favour. This result has boosted the hopes of those backing a future nationwide initiative. “The text is ready. It is similar to one put forward by canton Aargau and rejected by…

Democracy

Media demand army reforms following vote

This content was published on Sep 23, 2013 Media across the country questioned whether a long running political campaign to scrap the militia system had now run out of steam. But they also rammed home the point that a growing number of men are finding ways of wriggling out of the system while the army itself was criticised as employing outdated tactics. Most…

Democracy

Swiss voters endorse army conscription

This content was published on Sep 22, 2013 Defence Minister Ueli Maurer said the defeat of the proposal by the pacifist Switzerland without an Army group to end conscription and introduce a professional army of volunteers was a vote of confidence in the current militia system. “It is a yes to the army and to more security,” he told a news conference on Sunday.…

Democracy

Burka ban approved in Italian-speaking Switzerland

This content was published on Sep 22, 2013 According to official estimates, only about 100 women in Switzerland wear burkas. The full-body cloaks worn by some Muslim women are few and far between in the southern Swiss canton. And yet about 65% of voters in the Italian-speaking canton voted in favour of the change to the law. The Ticino initiative did not explicitly…

Democracy

Unions stage protest for fair work conditions

This content was published on Sep 21, 2013 Leaders of the Trade Union Federation criticised the growing gap between the rich and the poor in the country and political attempts to undermine labour standards. In their speeches in the three national languages German, French and Italian, outside parliament on Saturday, they also slammed planned public spending cuts as well as tax breaks for…

Democracy

House rejects support for paedophilia initiative

This content was published on Sep 18, 2013 The initiative, brought by the Marche Blanche (White March) group, would amend the Swiss constitution to ensure that “persons who are convicted because they have affected the sexual integrity of a child or a dependent person permanently lose the right to pursue a professional or volunteer activity with minors or dependents.” Critics of the amendment…

Democracy

People power, a Swiss tradition but new to Europe

This content was published on Sep 11, 2013 The study, carried out by two legal experts from the Centre for Democracy at the University of Zurich and the University of Innsbruck in neighbouring Austria, found a great deal of differences, but also some similarities. The two types of initiatives are “distant relatives rather than siblings”, as researcher Lorenz Langer says. The European Citizens’…

Democracy

Vote outcomes remain uncertain, except for army

This content was published on Sep 11, 2013 Political scientist Claude Longchamp says one of the main findings of the survey by his GfS Bern research and polling institute is a comparatively low-key campaign ahead of the September 22 ballots. Commissioned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, the poll was published on Wednesday. “There is hardly any public debate or it has had no…

Cluster: Democracy

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Cluster: Democracy

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Voters urged to reject cap on executive pay

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‘No army’ brand proves a political handicap

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Ticino burka vote could spawn others

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Media demand army reforms following vote

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Swiss voters endorse army conscription

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Burka ban approved in Italian-speaking Switzerland

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Unions stage protest for fair work conditions

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House rejects support for paedophilia initiative

More

People power, a Swiss tradition but new to Europe

More

Vote outcomes remain uncertain, except for army

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