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UPDATE: Swiss cantons of Fribourg, Neuchâtel to implement new coronavirus restrictions

Neuchâtel and Fribourg join Geneva and several other cantons in Switzerland in mandating tougher measures to fight the spread of Covid-19.

Published: 3 November 2020 10:39 CET
Updated: 3 November 2020 16:47 CET
UPDATE: Swiss cantons of Fribourg, Neuchâtel to implement new coronavirus restrictions
A sad sight: a number of cantons are shutting down bars and restaurants. Photo by AFP

Fribourg and Neuchâtel have become the latest Swiss cantons implement stricter lockdown measures than those adopted at a federal level. 

Here's what you need to know. 

Fribourg

From 11pm on Wednesday, November 4th, Fribourg will put in place a strict range of new coronavirus measures. 

Bars, restaurants and cafes will be forced to close, as will cinemas, theatres, museums, gyms, fitness centres and swimming pools. 

Cantonal authorities stressed that the measures were necessary to control the pandemic. 

Fribourg has become one of the hardest hit cantons in Switzerland. 

Neuchâtel

Among the new rules will be the closure of all bars and restaurants, along with cinemas, concert halls, theatres, museums, fitness, and wellness centres, erotic salons, swimming pools, bowling alleys and other game rooms. Contact sports are prohibited and non-contact sports activities are limited to five people.

Religious ceremonies are also prohibited, except for funerals.

The measures will go into effect on Wednesday at 11 pm until at least until November 22nd.

“Demonstrations and gatherings, public or private, including within the family circle, both indoors and outdoors, involving more than five people are prohibited. Households with more than five people are not affected by this measure”, the canton said.

Neuchâtel’s measures follow a ‘semi-confinement’ implemented in Geneva on November 2nd, which includes shutting down all bars, restaurants, non-essential shops, as well as leisure establishments like cinemas, museums, libraries and pools.

READ MORE: UPDATE: Geneva and other Swiss cantons introduce tighter coronavirus restrictions 

Similar measures are also in force in Jura, where all bars, restaurants, museums, theatres, cinemas, and libraries in the canton will remain closed until November 15th. 

Other cantons are expected to implement similar measures in the coming days, including Vaud, which will release its list of restrictions on Wednesday.

The measures go beyond those mandated by the Federal Council on October 29th on the national level.

Cantons can’t revoke any of the federal measures but they can add their own, more restrictive ones.
 

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POLITICS

Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Voters in the country’s most "international" canton Geneva will soon have their say on whether non-Swiss citizens living in their midst should have more political rights.

Published: 29 April 2024 12:19 CEST
Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Foreigners are not allowed to vote on national level anywhere in Switzerland.

Though there had been attempts in the past to change this rule, the latest such move was turned down by legislators in 2022.

However, five cantons are permitting foreign residents to cast their votes in local referendums and elections: Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura. Conditions vary from one canton to another, but in all cases a certain length of stay and a residence permit are required.

(In Zurich, a similar move was rejected in 2023).

Of the five cantons, only Neuchâtel and Jura authorise foreign residents to vote on cantonal level in addition to communal one; in the others, they can cast municipal ballots only. 

Additionally, three other cantons have similar laws on their books, but they this legislation remains mostly inactive.

Basel-City, Graubünden, and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden have authorised their communes to introduce the right to vote, the right to elect, and the right to be elected for their non-Swiss residents. 

However, only few of the communes in these cantons have actually introduced these measures.

Wait…Geneva’s foreigners already have the right to vote?

Yes, they have had this right since 2005, but only on municipal level.

However, this could change on June 9th, when Geneva residents will go to the polls to weigh in on an initiative launched by the trade unions and political left, calling for foreigners who have lived in the canton for at least eight years, to be able to vote and stand as candidates for political offices at the cantonal level.

This ‘upgrade’ to the cantonal voting rights is important, supporters argue, because it would enable foreigners to have more political impact.

“Municipal votes are quite rare, and the issues at stake are relatively limited,” the initiative committee said.

Therefore, “access to the cantonal vote will allow these same people to express their views on wider subjects that affect them on a daily basis.”

Is this  measure likely to be accepted?

No reliable forecasts exist at this point.

And while foreigners constitute nearly 40 percent of Geneva’s population — the highest proportion in Switzerland —  it will be up to Swiss citizens to decide on the outcome.

However, some members of the Geneva parliament are urging the ‘no’ vote on June 9th.

“No canton, no country, provides such generous rights to their foreigners,” the MPs from the centre parties pointed out in an interview with Tribune de Genève over the weekend.

(Neuchâtel and Jura allow voting, but not standing for election, at cantonal level).

“The only path for foreigners to obtain full political rights is through naturalisation,” the MPs added.

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