PostedSeptember 13, 2022, 10:42 PM
GenevaThe SVP wants to facilitate the launch of referendums
A bill intends to reduce by half the number of signatures required to exercise one’s political rights. The left applauds, not the right.
Geneva suffers from a democratic deficit, according to the UDC. Bringing about an initiative or a referendum there would be more difficult than elsewhere because of the minimum number of signatures required, which is too high at the end of the lake. The party therefore proposes to halve the current limit, on the cantonal and communal levels.
“Bar set too high”
Today, launching a cantonal referendum requires at least 5438 initials. “In Zurich, much more populated than Geneva, it only takes about 3,000, illustrates UDC deputy Stéphane Florey, author of the text which will be tabled by the end of the month. We set the bar too high.”
The chosen one advances another argument. For years, the collection of signatures on stands or at the exit of stores would be more laborious. “There was the Covid, which restricted actions on the ground. But above all, in a digital society, people are more suspicious and less inclined to leave their personal details.
Increased risk of blockages
Within the traditional right, the project worries. The required number of initials has already been reduced with the new Geneva Constitution, in 2012, then once again following a popular vote in 2017. By facilitating these democratic tools too much, blockages threaten, according to the deputy Yvan Zweifel, leader of the PLR group: “By systematically hindering the decisions of the cantonal and municipal parliaments, we would also discredit the work of the elected representatives of the people.”
Same story with the leader of the Le Center group, Sébastien Desfayes: it is up to the initiators and the referenda to manage to sufficiently mobilize the population, and not only their supporters. The elected official also recalls that in terms of taxes and housing, there is already a simplified referendum in Geneva (500 signatures).
Stéphane Florey takes the lead: “We have not seen an explosion of procedures in these areas, proof that lowering the number of initials does not generate more opposition.” Finally, the member also invokes the “rights of the people. Protest is not the prerogative of parties and parliaments.”
Left and SVP hand in hand
Initiatives and referendums are democratic tools which the parties of the Alternative are fond of to bring their fights. They are therefore rather seduced by the UDC project. “Giving more voice to citizens is always a good thing. And that does not weaken the work of parliaments. If a project voted by the Grand Council or a Municipal Council is good, there is no reason to fear a failure in popular vote, ”supports Pierre Vanek, deputy for Ensemble à Gauche. His colleague from the Greens, Marjorie de Chastonay, also said that she was in favor of the measure: “But then the required number of signatures should not be further reduced. First, so as not to discredit the work of elected officials; then to avoid overloading parliaments, already very busy, with too many objects resulting from initiatives, for example.”