The people and the cantons say no: the initiative of war agreements is clearly rejected – News

• The popular initiative “For the prohibition of financing the producers of war material” failed because of the majority of the people and the cantons.
• 57.5 percent of all voters said no to the group’s submission for a Switzerland without an army (Gsoa) and the Young Greens.
• The AHV, pension funds, the Swiss National Bank and foundations can continue to invest in companies that make money from war material.

In the end, only four cantons said yes to the war settlement initiative. The canton of Basel-Landschaft accepted the initiative more clearly, with 57.9 per cent of votes in favor. The canton of Jura accepted the bill with 55 percent, the canton of Geneva with 53.1 percent and the canton of Neuchâtel with 52 percent.

The canton of Nidwalden clearly said no to the war settlement initiative. There, the proportion of votes in favor was only 24.8 percent. Schwyz (25.8 percent of votes in favor), Obwalden (27.4 percent of votes in favor) and Uri (28.8 percent of votes in favor) clearly rejected the initiative. In the canton of Zurich, 45.7 percent said yes to the war settlement initiative and in Bern the share of votes was 45.2 percent.

Parmelin: “It wasn’t about morality”

Federal Councilor and Economic Affairs Minister Guy Parmelin (SVP) has stressed that the bill has nothing to do with profit or morals. It is only a question of not overloading social services and the economy “by a symbolic act”. “I can guarantee that the Federal Council will continue to work for a peaceful world and for sustainable financing,” Parmelin said. However, the means chosen by the Federal Council are different.

The Federal Council will also ensure that the framework conditions for the economy do not deteriorate: “Especially in the crisis we should renounce additional burdens,” he argued.

Respect for initiators

National Green Councilor Fabien Fivaz was disappointed and said he knew it would be difficult because the initiative was launched by the Young Greens and Gsoa. “But it is a very good result,” he said.

For the Gsoa, despite the defeat, it is actually a respectable success. Their initiatives have a hard time at the polls. The initiative “For a Switzerland without new combat aircraft” was rejected in 1993 with 42.8 percent of votes in favor, the initiative “For protection against armed violence” in 2011 with 43 percent of votes in favor. . All the other popular initiatives of the Gsoa were more clearly rejected.

The initiative was supported by the Greens, the SP, the EPP and some thirty organizations such as Solidarité sans frontiéres, the Swiss Association of Public Service Personnel (VPOD) and Humanrights.ch.