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“Payday for the richest is coming!”: That’s the motto of the young socialists Juso when it comes to their 99 percent initiative. Popular concern wants the richest percentage of the population to pay more taxes on income from capital, such as interest and dividends.
On Saturday, the Young Party besieged the houses of the National Councilor SVP Madgalena Martullo-Blocher in Meilen in Zurich and of the billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli in Vaud with tents. Ems-Chemie in particular, managed by Martullo-Blocher, pays high dividends every year.
“We camped to finally demand fairer taxes from the richest,” reports Juso president Ronja Jansen (25). She is convinced that the initiative has become more urgent with the crisis of the crown.
Roberto Martullo, Magdalena Martullo-Blocher’s husband, is anything but happy with the visit. In the video recordings of the Jusos you can see how he photographs the group and asks them to leave the premises – call the police, threaten. The Young Party renounces this confrontation. According to Jansen, the tents were soon abandoned without waiting to see if the police actually showed up. Also in Vaud, the security forces put an early end to the siege of Bertarelli’s home.
The second siege
It is not the first time that the Martullos have received an unexpected visit from Juso. Already in 2017, when the initiative was launched, the Young Party used the street in front of the house as a protest camp. “We are back in front of the Martullo-Blocher house because inequality has gotten dramatically worse in recent years,” says Jansen.
And also in 2017 the ad hoc camp did not last long: the police, also called by Roberto Martullo, put an end to the action.
The timing of the Juso is not accidental: next week, the parliament will address the initiative recommended by the Federal Council without recommending rejection. (gbl)
