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When a consortium of many development and human rights organizations, trade unions and environmental associations launched the corporate responsibility initiative four years ago, Switzerland was still different: the economy was booming and there was almost full employment. Four years later, Switzerland is in the middle of the second Corona wave, hundreds of thousands are working in the short term. A big wave of layoffs is feared.
Multipurpose weapon: weakening the economy
The voting time could not have been worse for the initiators. Human rights and environmental standards are very important to the Swiss population, as demonstrated by the popular majority of almost 51 percent. But many may have said to themselves: there are no too strict rules for companies in times of economic uncertainty.
Once again, the bourgeois majority in this country seems to have succeeded in founding an initiative with the same argument that the cause would harm the economy.
Highly professional initiators
The initiators did pretty much everything right. They had an important and very emotional concern that received much sympathy even in the middle class. Never before have non-governmental organizations (NGOs) carried out such a professional and comprehensive campaign. They had a permanent presence in the media and marked the issues. And the opponents seemed to be on the defensive for a long time.
Only in the last weeks before the polls did the opposition manage to sow doubts and address ambiguities in the text of the initiative. And they were increasingly able to promote the indirect counterproposal as a “reasonable” alternative. The counterproposal would go into effect immediately, the implementation of the initiative would be debated for years, they argued.
How much power do NGOs have?
At the start of the campaign five years ago, the initiators were very excited. Some NGOs fought for a good cause against seemingly dominant corporations. But in the course of this referendum, the electorate was no longer so clear about who David was and who Goliath was.
It was obvious that the initiators put up many more posters and were more present overall than the opponents. The initiators could count on a lot of volunteer work, but it was obvious that they also had very significant financial resources. Perhaps even more so than business associations.
If, in the final phase, posters are suddenly spread out across backyards and mailboxes are flooded with voting material every week, then that too can backfire. The campaign started very well, but in the end it seemed over the top.
Initiatives are in a difficult position
Soberly, a guess would have been an absolute sensation. Because in the last 150 years there has never been an initiative without conservative content that has been accepted by the electorate. Left-wing initiatives only had one chance when it came to protecting the landscape, for example. A concern that also enjoys support in conservative circles.
The general electorate has grown a bit weary in recent years when it comes to grassroots initiatives – the 2014 mass immigration initiative was the last to be successful. Since then, they have all been rejected.
Andy Müller
SRF Bundeshaus Editor
