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People demonstrate in May against the Crown Lock (Sechseläutenplatz in Zurich). Photo: trapezoidal
Corona rebels are launching a radical initiative
Already on September 20, a group around the economist of Vaudois François de Siebenthal wants to launch an initiative for a total revision of the federal constitution. If passed, Parliament would have to resign.
Is he a troublemaker? Or even a conspiracy theorist? The newspaper “Le Temps” has already referred to him as both. For the journalist Peter Rothenbühler, it is simply a political aberration.
François de Siebenthal, 65, has it all. Vaudois’ banker, economist, longtime activist and father of eight is considered a colorful and controversial figure in French-speaking Switzerland. He sees himself as a knight of justice.
François de Siebenthal 2014 in Bern. Photo: trapezoidal
You have just launched the referendum against the Swiss Covid app. And he already faces the next blow. On September 20, he wants to launch an initiative calling for a total revision of the Swiss federal constitution. It is probably the most radical popular initiative Switzerland has ever seen, more radical than the 1989 army abolition initiative.
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At first glance, the text doesn’t look spectacular
At first glance, the text of the initiative seems unspectacular. “The Swiss people demand a total revision of the Swiss federal Constitution,” you might say. But the content is complicated. The initiators describe them in their fundamental considerations. “They serve as the basis for a discussion,” says de Siebenthal. The most important points:
- Switzerland is introducing an unconditional basic income. Switzerland was the first country in the world to vote on this in 2016. 23.1 percent said yes.
- Switzerland creates a micro tax of one per thousand per cashless transaction. An initiative with this concern is currently in the collection stage. However, due to the crown crisis, it is unlikely to occur.
- Switzerland abolishes all other taxes and duties. In return, she takes over monetary sovereignty and frees herself from debt money. Only the National Bank can create money. Large banks are prohibited from creating book money. This was already required by the sovereign money initiative, which was voted in 2018, with a positive turnout of 24.3 percent.
- The National Bank is given to the Swiss as a gift, following the Migros model. In 1941, Gottlieb Duttweiler and his wife Adele turned Migros into a cooperative. Today there are more than 2.2 million Swiss Migros owners.
- Switzerland is creating a new constitutional court. Its members are drawn.
A “Robolution”
If the initiative is accepted, the parliament would have to resign within two years according to article 193 of the Federal Constitution. There would be early elections. The government would also have to be re-elected and therefore could be eliminated. In 1935 an initiative for a total reform was clearly rejected.
A revolution? François de Siebenthal does not use the term in his mouth. He prefers to speak of “theft”: in the 21st century, robots would play such an important role that “we no longer have to work as slaves”. From Siebenthal: “People are ready for new ideas. We have to go back to the original Switzerland. The Swiss can be kings. “
De Siebenthal advocates a fully developed welfare state
As a non-participant, the economist had already run unsuccessfully for the governing council of the canton of Vaud twice. In 2019, after a lottery, he stood for the elections for the National Council on the Démocratie Directe list (Spiritualités et Nature). His Smartspider shows something unusual: he advocates a state of well-being that has expanded to a maximum of 100 percent. Is it radical left? De Siebenthal’s laconic answer: “The left-right scheme is a trap. I’m up.”
De Siebenthal made headlines when, as a committee member, he presented the full-money initiative to the Résistance Helvétique movement. It is classified by the federal government as a “far-right organization.”
Siebenthal’s planned initiative draws on 70 Vaudois and French-speaking Swiss who have been working in task forces on a new federal constitution for years. The opponents of the Swiss Covid app are now on board too. “Many work with us, we make alliances,” says de Siebenthal. “We are open. Everyone can participate.” It doesn’t want to say more.
The initiators speak at once
De Siebenthal is particularly tough on the Federal Council. “In the crisis of the crown, the Federal Council carried out a coup d’état with an emergency law,” he says. “As in the Second World War, now we have to regain our freedoms.”
At that time, the Federal Council did not finally abandon the emergency law until 1952. In 1949, the initiative “Return to direct democracy” was accepted with 50.7 percent. “The resistance came from Vaud,” says de Siebenthal. “And today he returns from Vaud.”
“We are the owners and guarantors of the Swiss franc”
De Siebenthal even accuses the National Bank of withholding money from the federal government, the cantons and the population. “Now he has accumulated around 1,000 billion Swiss francs. It would be obliged to distribute two-thirds of the profits to the cantons and a third to the federal government. But she doesn’t, ”he says. «The money is ours. We are the owners and guarantors of the Swiss franc. It does not belong to New York. “Therefore, the movement wants to give the national bank to the population.
These are powerful claims. In the end, is François de Siebenthal just a conspiracy theorist? He responds: “The biggest conspiracy comes from those people who say we are conspirators.”
