SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Jura to vote on extending expat political rights

Foreigners may be allowed to become local councillors in the canton of Jura if the population votes in favour of an extension of political rights for expat residents in a referendum on September 28th.

Jura to vote on extending expat political rights
Photo: FutUndBeidel

The proposal, put forward to the cantonal parliament by an alternative left-wing party, says that foreign residents of the Jura should be able to run for elected positions in communal councils in the region, with the exception of the post of Mayor.

Proponents say this change in the law would further the integration of foreign residents into local political life, reports news agency ATS.

To be candidates for political office under the new proposal, foreigners must have lived in Switzerland for ten years and in the Jura for at least one year.

The original proposal has been watered down since it was first put to the cantonal parliament in 2012 in order to obtain as large a consensus as possible.

Foreigners will remain unable to run for mayor of their community or stand for office at cantonal level.

Although foreign residents can vote in cantonal elections, they will not be given the right to participate in any vote relating to constitutional issues.  

The federal government is backing the proposal, saying it would be mad to forbid perfectly integrated foreign residents from using their abilities to help their local community.

The referendum will be the third in 18 years to address an extension to the political rights of foreign residents in the Jura.

The canton is something of a pioneer in the subject, having given foreigners the right to vote in communal and cantonal elections back in 1979.

However progress since then has been slow.

In 1996 and 2007 Jura residents voted on – and rejected – a similar proposal to extend the political rights of foreigners, leaving the region lagging behind other cantons.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Swiss hard right crowns farmer as new leader

The hard-right Swiss People's Party, Switzerland's biggest political party, on Saturday anointed as its new leader hill farmer Marcel Dettling, a hardliner on asylum and immigration.

Swiss hard right crowns farmer as new leader

The lawmaker was unanimously elected at a party conference in Langenthal, northern Switzerland. He was the only candidate to stand for the leadership of the SVP, which comfortably topped the Swiss general election in October.

Dettling, 43, had been the election campaign manager and a party vice president.

Dettling is a member of the National Council lower house of parliament, representing the central Schwyz canton, and has served as party vice president.

“We will continue to defend our freedom and independence in the future and will not allow ourselves to be bullied by foreign rulers,” he said.

On the question of closer ties with the neighbouring European Union, he added: “In Switzerland, it is the people who govern, and not bureaucrats in Brussels.”

The SVP has come a long way from its roots as a farmers’ party in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.

It became a national force focused on opposition to mass immigration, to closer ties with the EU, and to the abandonment of Swiss neutrality.

Dettling is considered on the harder wing of the party on immigration. His parliamentary interventions typically concern asylum and agriculture.

Outgoing leader Marco Chiesa had decided not to stand again at the end of his term.

Chiesa has led the SVP since August 2020 and in October 2023 took the party to the third-best result in its history, winning 28 percent of the vote and nine more seats in the National Council.

The SVP’s election campaign had focused on the fight against “mass immigration” and the prospect of the Swiss population –currently 8.8. million — reaching 10 million.

It also launched a war on “cancel culture” and what it called “gender terror and woke madness”.

Delegates gave Chiesa a standing ovation on Saturday.

The seven seats in the Swiss government are shared out 2-2-2-1 among the four largest parties. The government, or Federal Council, takes its decisions by consensus and collective responsibility.

The SVP’s two government members are Economy Minister Guy Parmelin and Environment Minister Albert Rosti.

SHOW COMMENTS