GENEVA — Switzerland on Sunday rejected proposals that would have made it
the first European country to ban synthetic pesticides following a divisive
campaign that shattered the idyllic image of peaceful Swiss Alpine pastures.
اضافة اعلان
Voters heeded the government's advice and rejected the two
publically-proposed initiatives that would have changed the landscape for Swiss
farming.
A double majority of voters and cantons is required to push through popular
initiatives and with results declared so far in 22 of the 23 full cantons, a
majority in 21 have said no to the plans. The percentage of votes against the
proposals was running at 62 percent.
Meanwhile controversial sweeping new police powers to combat terrorism seem
set to pass — despite warnings from the United Nations and Amnesty
International — with around 57 percent of the votes so far approving the new
laws.
Under Switzerland's direct democracy system, referendums, and popular votes
occur every few months at national, regional, and local levels.
Any idea from the public can be put to a national vote as long as it gathers
100,000 signatures from the 8.6 million population.
So-called popular initiatives need a double majority to pass.
Meanwhile, 50,000 signatures are needed to trigger a referendum on new laws
agreed by parliament. They need a simple majority of votes to pass.
Poisonous pesticide
debate
No major country has so far banned man-made pesticides. Bhutan announced in
2012 that it wanted to become the first nation in the world to turn its
home-grown food and farmers 100 percent organic.
Switzerland's national vote on two anti-pesticide proposals was the
culmination of a campaign marked by heated arguments.
Arsonists torched a trailer in the western Vaud canton displaying
"No" banners, while "Yes"-backing farmers said they had
been the victims of insults, threats, and intimidation.
The first popular initiative, entitled "For a Switzerland free from
synthetic pesticides," called for a domestic ban within 10 years, and the
outlawing of imported foodstuffs produced using such pesticides.
Under the second initiative, "For clean drinking water and healthy
food", only farms that do not use pesticides and use antibiotics only to
treat sick animals would be eligible for government subsidies.
The amount of liquid manure being used on fields, and thereby potentially
entering the water system, would also be limited.
The Swiss government called for a double "No" vote, arguing that
the proposals would undermine national food sovereignty.
Anti-terror laws
backed
The new anti-terror laws extend police powers to prevent future attacks,
allowing them to take preventative action more easily when faced with a
"potential terrorist".
If police believe someone over the age of 12 is contemplating violent
actions, the law allows them to conduct greater surveillance, limit their
movements and oblige them to face questioning.
And with a court order, they can also place anyone over the age of 15 under
house arrest for up to nine months.
The wealthy nation has not seen the large-scale attacks witnessed in its
European neighbors, though the authorities insist the threat level is high.
Nils Melzer, the
UN special rapporteur on torture, told AFP the government
had "clearly misled the Swiss people" as to who the law could be
applied to and their likely effectiveness.
"Switzerland will now have the world's most unprofessional,
ineffective, and dangerous anti-terrorism law — a major embarrassment for
Switzerland as a modern democracy," said the expert, who does not speak
for the UN but reports his findings to the global body.
Amnesty Switzerland's campaign director Patrick Walder said:
"Switzerland is giving itself an imprecise definition of terrorism which
opens the door to arbitrary police action."
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