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The battle is lost, but the war is far from it. Opponent warplanes of the SP, the Greens and the group for a Switzerland without an army (GSoA) had to admit defeat on Sunday. Switzerland votes to buy new fighter jets for a maximum of six billion francs. 8,670 votes were decisive.
After the very tight result, the opponents tasted the blood. They want to continue their fight against new fighter jets. After all, the result of the vote shows that skepticism in the population extends far beyond the field of the left, said Green National Councilor Marionna Schlatter (39).
“All weapons projects questioned”
First, the GSoA announced Sunday night that it would examine the launch of a popular initiative against the specific purchase of new fighter jets. “Because for the defense department the result is a crushing defeat,” says GSoA secretary Lewin Lempert (24).
It is not yet clear what type of aircraft the Federal Council will decide next year. There are still four providers in operation. For the SP, however, the narrow “yes” definitely shows that the Defense Department’s security policy no longer corresponds to the current threat situation and that the population is no longer convincing. It requires a rethinking of security policy.
“The result of the vote puts great pressure on the army,” says former national councilor Jo Lang (66, Green), who caused a sensation more than 30 years ago with the initiative to abolish the army. “Now all weapons projects are being questioned more and more.”
“Of course we are now a bit inspired”
Even with the SP and the Greens, they no longer want to rule out a popular initiative against the specific aircraft type. This tactic was already successful in 2014 in the fight against the Swedish Gripen. Now it is important to analyze the new result of the vote, says the national councilor of the SP, Priska Seiler-Graf (52). And: “An initiative always needs a lot of resources. But now we are a little inspired. “
