Swiss hold citizenship vote

[orieleye]

The Swiss are poised to vote on whether to revive secret ballots to decide on citizenship.

Court ruling
Five years ago, the Swiss Supreme Court outlawed secret ballots, ruling that they could be discriminatory. At the same time, the court ruled that those turned down for citizenship had the right to be given reasons for their rejection, and the right to appeal against the decision.


The ruling brought a storm of protest. Switzerland's tradition of direct democracy generally means the people, the voters, have the final say. Many see the Supreme Court's action as an attack on the very foundations of the Swiss democratic system.

"I cannot accept that judges have the right to decide who gets to be a citizen," says Luzi Stamm, member of parliament for the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).

"Citizenship is a political question. The Swiss population, Swiss society should decide - not lawyers and judges."

The SVP, now the largest party in Switzerland's parliament, has forced the issue to a nationwide referendum. On Sunday voters will decide whether to revive secret ballots and remove the right of appeal, thus giving the final say on naturalisation back to the Swiss people.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Swiss hold crunch citizenship vote

[eurofighter]

So I hope for Switzerland and it's people, that the vote will be of positive result.
Anyway it's amazing that there's still a European country where such a ballot is possible without beeing accused of being racist. Or are they?
________________________
Wehe dem Feigling, welcher Freude und Friede nicht findet im Siege der Seinen
- Odin -

[orieleye]

Originally Posted by eurofighter

So I hope for Switzerland and it's people, that the vote will be of positive result.
Anyway it's amazing that there's still a European country where such a ballot is possible without beeing accused of being racist. Or are they?

That charge is implied in the article, I think.

Ugly campaign

The campaign has been heated. Normally tranquil Swiss political talk shows have descended into bitter shouting matches.

The SVP's campaign poster, showing black and brown hands grabbing at Swiss passports, has led many to suspect that the real issue is not who decides on citizenship, but how best to keep certain groups out of Switzerland.

And in this heartbreaking excerpt.

Two ethnic Turkish men, Elias Ego and Manuel Dogdu, have long experience of this process.
They have lived all their lives in the central Swiss town of Schwyz, but they have Turkish nationality. Schwyz, with a population of 40,000, was one of the towns which used secret ballots to approve new citizens.

"They distributed brochures with our pictures to all the voters," remembers Elias. "There was a little CV with information about us, and our nationality."

"We had passed all the language tests with flying colours," adds Manuel. "The authorities recommended us for citizenship."

Humiliating rejection

Manuel and Elias, together with their parents, brothers and sisters, had hoped the ballot would be a formality. Instead it turned out to be a humiliating public rejection.

"We've been rejected four times now," says Manuel.

"I'm very, very disappointed. I can't understand why I can't be Swiss - Switzerland is my home, I've lived here all my life."

"We were rejected three times," adds Elias, who is now 20.

"I remember, every time, I had to go to school the next day, and everybody knew exactly what had happened. Some people pointed and laughed. It was very tough."

[orieleye]

It didn't go through.

Voters in Switzerland have rejected a move to make it even harder for foreigners to obtain citizenship.

In a referendum, they voted 64% against a bid to revive the practice of approving citizenship candidates by secret ballot and scrapping appeals.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Swiss reject new citizenship rule

[eurofighter]

Originally Posted by orieleye

It didn't go through.

Unfortunately, heard it in the news last evening