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Swiss Politics

Finance minister elected Swiss president for 2002

This content was published on Dec 5, 2001 Villiger took 183 votes out of 203 valid ballots in Wednesday’s election, which is largely a formality since each of the seven members of the cabinet takes turns to be president for one year. He will take over from the current president, Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger, at the end of the year. The strong show…

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Swiss aid Nepalese, despite violence

This content was published on Dec 4, 2001 A bombing in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Monday killed one person and wounded two others; on Tuesday soldiers shot dead two suspected Maoist rebels. Maoist rebels want to replace Nepal’s constitutional monarchy with a communist republic. Recently, they ended a four-month ceasefire, and in the past two weeks, at least 200 people have…

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Swiss Politics

Press finds voters decisive in time of uncertainty

This content was published on Dec 3, 2001 Swiss newspapers take an almost unanimous line in their attempts to interpret voters’ reasons for throwing out initiatives to abolish the armed forces and to introduce two new taxes – on capital gains and energy. The leader writer at Bern’s “Der Bund” newspaper, Richard Aschinger, writes that Sunday “was a day of radical decisions… influenced…

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Swiss Politics

Emmen in the spotlight over Swiss citizenship – again

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 In a secret ballot, voters agreed to grant citizenship to six candidates from Morocco, Portugal, Italy, and the Philippines. An 11-year-old Yugoslavian girl also gained citizenship by the narrow margin of 3,294 votes to 3,142. However the other 12 applicants, who came from Yugoslavia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, were all turned down, albeit by a margin…

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Swiss Politics

Vote shows Swiss firmly behind army

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 Four out of five people at the ballot box rejected proposals by a pacifist group to scrap the armed forces and to set up a voluntary peace corps, funded by the government. Final results show only 22 per cent of voters and none of the country’s 26 cantons approved the proposals. Turnout was about 40…

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Swiss Politics

Nationality rows fuel calls for change

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 Traditionally, foreigners applying for Swiss citizenship do so through their local communities, which make the final decision. This means that the system for granting citizenship can vary from one town to another. Although some basic regulations, such as the requirement to have lived 12 years in Switzerland, apply across the country, towns and villages are…

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Swiss Politics

Voters reject proposal to scrap armed forces

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 Exit polls show the electorate has decisively voted down proposals to scrap the armed forces and to set up a voluntary peace corps. A nationwide poll conducted by SRG-SSR-idée Suisse, shows four out of five voters have rejected the proposals, which had been put forward by a pacifist group. Final results are expected within the…

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Swiss Politics

Voters reject abolition of armed forces

This content was published on Dec 2, 2001 Voting ended at midday and computer projections show the electorate clearly voting down proposals to scrap the armed forces and set up a voluntary peace corps. First results are expected shortly. Parliament, the government and most political parties had come out against the proposals by a pacifist group, Switzerland Without An Army. The supporters argued…

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Swiss Politics

House rejects anti-abortion initiative

This content was published on Nov 29, 2001 The parliamentary chamber rejected the motion called ” For Mother and child” by 139 votes, with seven in favour and 17 abstentions. The vote was called after various pro-life groups and the Christian Democratic party delivered a petition to the federal government in July calling for a referendum on the issue. The matter will now…

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Swiss Politics

Voting to be made easier for Swiss abroad

This content was published on Nov 27, 2001 According to the proposal, the 70,000 expatriates registered with embassies all over the world, will be able to cast their votes without having to register regularly. Swiss expatriates have had the right to take part in elections and referenda since 1977, however, so far they have been obliged to register with their embassies every four…

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