NGO of the power factor: the bourgeois must dress in a coat

Analysis

NGO of the power factor: the bourgeois must dress in a coat

The group’s initiative failed due to the number of positions, but with NGOs, a powerful new force factor has established itself in Swiss politics. Civil and commercial associations are required.

In the not too distant future we can speak of a turning point. But this vote was guaranteed to be memorable. It is true that the audience brought down the group responsibility initiative. But even Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter, who was heavily targeted by them, paid tribute to the tireless efforts of the initiators.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become a powerful factor of power in the Swiss political landscape. There was already a preview of the September 27 vote, when environmental and nature conservation organizations managed to land the hunting law with a complex and costly campaign.

The editor-in-chief of “Sonntagsblick” had wondered beforehand that the opponents were using “an unusually large amount of money.” He does not seem to have realized that NGOs are not copper and raffia wool associations, but have grown into strong organizations thanks to the professionalization and generosity of the members.

Highly professional campaign

In KVI they have elevated their political power to a new level, never seen before. The highly professional campaign of the initiators under the orange flag has been built over the years. In the voting battle it went almost perfectly, although the impression that there were more could not be removed.

The pervasive emotionalization, moralization and scandal with sometimes questionable means probably cost the initiative potential yes votes in the bourgeois camp, with which the class would have been crushed. This is all the more irritating as the initiators always referred to their broad support, including regional churches.

If NGOs learn the right lessons from this, they are likely to become even more dangerous. Commoners know it. In the past, popular “left” initiatives used to be put to a blank vote with the expectation that they would be rejected anyway. Today, a counterproposal is almost imperative, at least when it comes to ecological issues.

Also contributing to this is the loss of confidence in the economy, which affects SMEs less than large corporations. They are rarely run by down-to-earth entrepreneurs, but rather by an independent management guild, often of foreign origin, which has fallen into disrepute due to overpayments and other (keyword: financial crisis).

Several initiatives in process

The next opportunity to profile NGOs is coming soon. For example, in the two votes of the referendum on March 7, 2021, in which the number of farms will not influence:

E-ID: The Federal Council and Parliament want the electronic “identity card” to be issued by private companies in accordance with state requirements. An alliance of network activists and green left groups rejects this law. She calls for a purely state solution. In the referendum battle he will face Karin Keller-Sutter again.

Free trade with Indonesia: An alliance that includes climate strikes, human rights activists and farmers is fighting against the treaty with the slogan “Stop palm oil.” The campaign is already underway, it looks a lot like the corporate initiative, including the color orange.

Other popular initiatives with high approval potential are also in the works. Parliament is currently fighting for a counterproposal on the Pesticides and Drinking Water Initiative. In the winter session it is the turn of the National Council. Working on an alternative to Transparenzinitiativethat will soon be ready to vote.

The Federal Council itself has counterproposals Industrial agriculture initiative, to Glacier Initiative and to Correction initiative put into play. The latter is something of a continuation of the war agreements initiative, which achieved a 42.8 percent success on Sunday, a respectable result for a group proposal for a Switzerland without an army (GSoA).

End of tax exemption?

And that’s not the end of the flagpole: in October we were Landscape Initiative Y Biodiversity Initiative presented, two more proposals with potential yes (see hunting law or second residence initiative). There will be a lot in store for commoners and business associations.

The reactions are different: the Zürich FDP Council of States, Ruedi Noser, wants to withdraw tax exemptions for non-profit organizations if they are politically active. His proposal will be discussed in the Council of States next week. The Economiesuisse business association, on the other hand, relies on long-term, broad-based alliances based on the NGO model, according to NZZ.

In European politics, this has already been achieved quite successfully with “strong and networked”. But the task will not be easy, because while NGOs tend to act together, business associations often disagree. Above all, however, they lack one factor that environmentalists and human rights activists have in abundance: idealism.