Rocky road to Swiss citizenship: the majority of Swiss voters recently said "no" to granting their second and third-generation foreign neighbours easy access to citizenship. But the real story behind the latest referendum seems to be the old political wall of division separating the French and German speaking landscape--the so-called 'Roestigraben'.
| Auteur | Anderson, Robert |
| Fonction | Politics |
In the wake of several years during which the politics of the French and German speaking Swiss people had seemed to tread along a more harmonious path, the recent national referendum of 26 September once again underscored the great divide that characterises the country's political course.
Not since 1992, when the people were faced with the decision of joining the European Economic Area (EEA), has there been such divisiveness along cultural lines. This intangible political wall is most commonly referred to in Switzerland as the 'Roestigraben', and according to one Swiss-German lexicon it is defined as the situation arising from a disparity in vote between the minority and the majority, populations in Switzerland--literally the 'gap of the roasted potatoes' because meal is a characteristic of the majority in the eyes of the minority.
The Outcome
The citizenry faced four proposals at the ballot box: the decrees on streamlining statutory citizenship for second-generation foreign minors and the rights of third-generation foreigners to acquire Swiss citizenship at birth; the proposal for revision of the federal law governing compensation of wages (e.g., for employees on maternity leave); and the popular initiative 'Postal Services for Everyone.'
The government had tried unsuccessfully twice before, in 1983 and 1994, to clear the way for second and third-generation foreign minors to acquire the coveted red passport, thereby providing them with better opportunities in their place of birth.
However, for the third time in the last 20 years, Swiss voters as well as the cantons rejected such proposals. With an above-average voter turnout, 56.8 per cent of the people opposed streamlining the citizenship process for second-generation foreigners, and 51.6 per cent of the voters said "no" to granting third-generation foreigners the Swiss passport at birth.
The divisiveness was noticeable: The entire German-speaking region of the country (with the exception of the Basel-Stadt canton) turned down the government initiative, while many French-speaking cantons approved of the proposals by a margin of up to 67.8 per cent. Christoph Blocher, Federal Councillor and poster boy for the conservative Swiss People's Party--who had been accused by some of not supporting the government-sponsored proposals in the run-up to the referendum--declared that the public had now rejected such a move for the third time, and the outcome should be accepted. Other political parties...
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