So Switzerland had an election on Sunday. The xenophobia was very obvious after the results were posted.
The most controversial of the votes was to ban women from wearing a burqa. It was to ban burqas or “other coverings that cover the face.”
I guess Julie and I will be illegal as will everyone else following the mask rules for COVID. What I found most amusing after the results were published was reading people’s justification for voting on the ban. It seemed very telling to me that many people said they were voting for the ban because it empowered women. This coming on International Women’s Day. I mean what empowers women more than telling them what clothes they can or cannot wear. Especially as we are not in the Middle East, the women that wear a burqa here, are wearing it because they want to; not because they have to. I saw a news article that this impacted directly fewer than 100 women in Switzerland, and it will also have a negative impact on tourism. The one canton that already established a ban, has seen a 30% decline on tourists from the middle east, which had been their 2nd largest group of tourists behind Europeans. I will be interested in finding out if tourism for the whole country will be impacted now.
The other vote that showed the xenophobia came in crime reporting. This vote was not as bad as it could have been. There were actually two questions on the ballot regarding this. The first question would have required publishing of ethnicity. This was defeated, but almost 45% voted yes. The question that did pass was requiring the police to release what country the person migrated from. To me it is already bad enough that I am a 2nd class person, because I am only a resident. But this now has also set up a separate class of Swiss citizens. If you are arrested, and you are a native born citizen, there will be no mention of where you are from, but let’s say your parents moved here when you were 6 months old, and you eventually got your citizenship. You have lived here all your life, but if you are arrested, it will be announced that you are from a different country.
For a country that prides itself on freedom and equality, I find both of those election results very sad.
On a happy note, there were some results that make my wallet do a happy dance. There was a question about extending shopping hours by one hour each day. This was SOUNDLY defeated. Thank goodness. As it is now, when Julie is working in her office, and comes home there isn’t time for her to shop on the way. Extending another hour, well…….. :).
It is truly amazing the things that Swiss Citizens can vote. The country is truly trying to practice a more direct form of democracy than most other countries. I guess the downside of that, is you have to live with the bad as well as the good.
Swiss word of the week:
For a country that prides itself on freedom and equality, I find both of those election results very sad.
On a happy note, there were some results that make my wallet do a happy dance. There was a question about extending shopping hours by one hour each day. This was SOUNDLY defeated. Thank goodness. As it is now, when Julie is working in her office, and comes home there isn’t time for her to shop on the way. Extending another hour, well…….. :).
It is truly amazing the things on which Swiss Citizens can vote. The country is truly trying to practice a more direct form of democracy than most other countries. I guess the downside of that, is you have to live with the bad as well as the good. In some cantons, the voters have a direct vote on their tax level. In Geneva voters were asked to make a decision on a direct payments to low income workers ( the aid is CAPPED at 4,000 francs per month). In the canton of Bern, right now stores are ALLOWED to be open two Sunday’s per month. Most are not, however. They voted to allow stores to open the other two Sundays. That was defeated. In other localities, there were votes on expanding hospitals, road construction, etc… The granular detail these votes take is amazing. What I do not know, is if the Swiss people are actually any better at becoming informed than in other countries. I find it hard to believe that people would really take the time to learn if a street needs to be widened. I am a strong believer that if this ever happened in the US, that nothing would ever get done. Way to many people look at $1 being spent by the government as too much money, and would never vote to spend more.
Swiss word of the week: Chuchichäschtli
This is a kitchen cupboard.
I don’t think I will ever be able to pronounce this word, but if you would like to hear it click here.
Hope you have a great day. I’ll talk to you later.