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Army opponents want to shoot down a fighter plane with an “express initiative”
Opponents of the fighter jets did not expect such a tight voting result; now they want to avoid acquisition by question of type.
Close employees of Defense Minister Viola Amherd (CVP) were extremely nervous yesterday morning. They didn’t trust the polls that predicted a resounding yes to the fighter jet. The course of the day proved them right, and in the end the supporters and the Federal Councilor, with 50.2 percent yes, missed the fiasco.
Exactly the opposite is the situation in the field of the fighter jets’ opponents around the SP, the Greens and the group Switzerland Without Army (GSoA). There, according to clear polls, a more or less clear approval was expected.
An F-35 takes off. PHOTO: EPA US AIR FORCE
When the tremendous decision became clear from noon yesterday, when suddenly he was not within reach, those responsible for the campaign seemed taken by surprise. They had not discussed this scenario in depth beforehand.
Former Zug national adviser Jo Lang (Alternative, Greens), who is the driving force behind the GSoA, said: If you say no, you should pause to think immediately, a march on arms spending. “It does not mean that citizens of the military no longer see an up-to-date answer to current security problems.”
But even the crystal clear yes that turned out in the end is like a victory for the heads of the referendum committee. The proponents would have mobilized their best forces, the most credible Federal Councilor, and still would have won strongly.
It’s a yes to the pig in a push, Lang says, but not a yes to a certain type of aircraft: “We are examining an express initiative.” That would mean collecting as many signatures as possible as quickly as possible and avoiding buying.
According to GSoA Secretary Lewin Lempert, the close result shows that the defense concept of the last 30 years has been questioned. Almost half of those who have the right to vote believe that “30 or 40 warplanes will do nothing for our safety.”
The acquisition process could be open to attack
This “express initiative” seems, as subsequent discussions show, highly likely if the Federal Council decides in favor of an American jet.
Such an initiative would also be triggered by any inconsistencies or even suspicions of corruption in the procurement process that it is following now. Europe or USA: This alliance question will lead to a lot to talk about in the coming months.
Four aircraft are in the running for the replacement of the F / A-18: the “European” Rafale (Dassault) and Eurofighter (Airbus), as well as the American F / A-18 Super Hornet (Boeing) and F-35 ( Lockheed). . Manufacturers are due to present their second and decisive offer in November, and the type decision will be made in mid-2021. Former Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey (SP) also sees the Europe-US issue as strategically eminently important.
These four fighter jets are shortlisted
In an interview, he said: “If Switzerland buys an American plane, it means that the United States will control how we use its technologies.” They would send inspectors, we would tie ourselves to the United States. “That can have consequences, for example, if the United States realizes its threat and leaves NATO,” says the Geneva-based woman.
“But when we buy a French or German plane, we choose our European neighbors, whose support we need in an emergency,” says Calmy-Rey.
Ultimately, it is “a question of whether we place ourselves under a transatlantic or Franco-German defense umbrella.” Even before the vote, he opposed “that the population approve the money for the plane, but afterwards they have nothing to say about the momentous and momentous strategic decision.”
Which jet will emerge as the evaluation winner is supposedly open, even if the Rafale is still the favorite of many. In any case, as all observers agree, the debate over the use of the 6 billion will continue to throw high waves.
