“Switzerland will hold a referendum on Sunday in which the country’s residents will vote on whether to replace the current military service for men with mandatory civil service for all, and whether to impose new taxes on the super-rich.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Illustrative photo by Getty Images Source: “European truth” with reference to Euractiv
Details: Under Switzerland’s direct democracy, voters will also decide whether to impose new taxes on the super-rich to help finance the country’s efforts to combat climate change.
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According to the latest polls, neither initiative has a chance of being passed, but both have sparked heated debate in the Alpine country.
The Swiss government and parliament urged voters to reject both initiatives, saying they would cause huge costs and could threaten the economy.
The so-called “Civic Obligation” initiative initially received quite a lot of support, but in recent weeks it has lost popularity: according to the latest gfs.bern survey, 64% of respondents expressed their opposition to it.
The committee behind the initiative says that requiring every Swiss citizen, regardless of gender, to complete military or civilian service would strengthen social cohesion.
The initiative is aimed at achieving “true equality”, said the head of the committee, Noemi Rothen.
She described the current system as discriminatory, both for men and women.
“Whether it’s in the military, civil defence, civil service or the volunteer fire service, the idea is that every young person contributes to the collective good,” Rothen said.
Against the backdrop of geopolitical upheaval and war raging in Europe, Rothen said it was time to give women equal participation in the collective project of protecting the population.
Opponents of the initiative do not believe that it will promote equality.
Cyrille Huguenot, head of equality, family and migration at the Swiss Trade Union Confederation (USS), accused the initiative of “completely obscuring the real situation of women in this country”.
She stated that Swiss women already devote 60% of their time to unpaid work, while for men “the opposite is true”.
“And now you’re asking women to provide even more unpaid services. This will only increase the imbalance,” Huguenot said.
The government supported this argument in its opposition to the measure.
He also stressed that doubling the number of recruits would greatly exceed needs and could harm the Swiss economy.
Prehistory:
- Earlier, the media announced that French President Emmanuel Macron may announce the introduction of voluntary military service in France in the coming days, a project that has been under discussion for several months.
- One of the polls showed that the vast majority of French citizens would support the introduction of voluntary military service.