2024-04-21 19:37:19
Geneva traders express their frustration with the recurring demonstrations, believing that they harm their turnover. The Council of State claims to have taken their concerns into account and is considering limiting gatherings, raising the question of respect for the right to demonstrate.
Since the start of the year, every other Saturday has been marked by a parade in Geneva. A situation which is causing growing discontent among traders.
Saturday in the 7:30 p.m. of the RTS, Anne-Marie de Picciotto, administrator at Brunschwig & Cie SA, notes that each demonstration leads to a 25% reduction in the turnover of her store: “We carried out an in-depth study, establishing a reference base for Saturdays without events by comparing them with Saturdays with events. This results in a constant and significant loss of turnover.”
For some brands, the drop in turnover reaches up to 40%. Flore Teysseire, secretary general of Genève Commerces, notes that economic freedom is a constitutional right and specifies that “the sector also has 18,000 jobs. It seems to me that it is an equally legitimate cause to fight for”.
The Council of State ready to tighten the screw
Questioned by traders and the City of Geneva, the Council of State plans to take stricter measures. Because these parades also hinder public transport and generate costs for public safety.
On the Geneva television channel Léman Bleu, State Councilor Carole-Anne Kast expressed her intention to take measures: “There is no question of prohibiting demonstrations. We will analyze the requests and authorize them, but taking into account this global context and this recurrence, we will be a little more restrictive, either on routes, times or even days.
A bill has been tabled
Murat Julian Alder, PLR deputy on the Geneva Grand Council, has for his part tabled a bill aimed at better regulating demonstrations in public domain. He welcomes the authorities’ desire to redefine the exercise of this right. Invited on Saturday in Forum, he specifies that the objective is not to prohibit demonstrations, but to calm the current situation which, according to him, “is becoming frankly annoying for everyone”.
“We know that Saturday is the day when traders make the most turnover,” he emphasizes. Consequently, he therefore asks that demonstrations no longer be authorized on the Mont Blanc bridge and along the axes where trams run.
The PLR deputy wonders regarding the places where the demonstrations are taking place and why they are not taking place on the Plainpalais plain, where, according to him, they would cause no harm. “What bothers me is that ultimately, we seem to demonstrate with a desire, not only to be seen but also to annoy others,” he analyzes.
>> Listen to the Forum debate between Clémence Jung, co-president of the Association of Progressive Jurists and member of the BDS collective, and Murat-Julian Alder, PLR deputy on the Geneva Grand Council. : The canton of Geneva will tighten its sights regarding the holding of demonstrations: debate between Clémence Jung and Murat-Julian A / Forum / 10 min. / yesterday at 6:05 p.m.
Incomprehension
Clémence Jung, co-president of the association of progressive jurists and member of the BDS collective, which campaigns for the end of the occupation of the Palestinian territories, expresses her incomprehension: “It is difficult to understand how we can estimate the loss of the turnover, while the demonstrations last no more than an hour and each axis crossed is only blocked for around 20 minutes.”
She also highlights the importance of public participation in demonstrations. “The Genevans come en masse, (…) to ignore them, not to hear the substance of what they denounce, is also to deny the right to demonstrate,” she maintains.
Clémence Jung also says she notices an apparent contradiction. On the one hand, it is affirmed that the right to demonstrate will not be affected and that it would ideally be guaranteed, “but then why propose a bill which reduces it to nothing?”.
>> The interview in Forum with Claude Bonard, former vice-chancellor of the canton of Geneva, on the recurring discontent in the canton: Why is there so much controversy and demonstrations in Geneva? Interview with Claude Bonard / Forum / 7 min. / yesterday at 6:06 p.m.
TV and radio news: Gianluca Agosta and Valentin Emery
Adaptation web: Miroslav Mares
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