Progress in Europe

There's a lot of votes in Europe today, and the headline after the German election is that the Swiss have voted overwhelmingly for marriage equality in a referendum:

Swiss voters have decided by a clear margin to allow same-sex couples to marry, in a referendum that brings the Alpine nation into line with many others in western Europe.

Official results showed the measure passed with 64.1% of voters in favour and won a majority in all of Switzerland’s 26 cantons.

Switzerland’s parliament and the governing federal council supported the “Marriage for All” measure, and pre-referendum polls showed solid backing. Switzerland has authorised same-sex civil partnerships since 2007.

Its good news, which officially brings Switzerland into the civilised world while further marginalising the bigot-states. Marriages should start in a couple of months.

And in other good news, Berlin voted to expropriate its large corporate landlords. Its a non-binding referendum, but the acid is really going to be on the politicians to obey. And San Marino finally legalised abortion.

Racism loses in Switzerland

Over in Switzerland, the racist "People's Party" tried to have a Brexit-style referendum on ending freedom of movement with the EU, so they could stop the "flood" of foreigners. But the Swiss people said No:

Swiss voters have resoundingly rejected an attempt to tear up the country’s agreement with the EU on the free movement of people, in a referendum that echoed the Brexit vote.

The largest party in the Swiss parliament, the rightwing, anti-immigration Swiss People’s party (SVP), called the referendum, arguing that the country must be allowed to set its own limit on the number of foreigners coming in to work.

However, the initiative – opposed by government, parliament, unions, employer organisations and all other political parties because it would put Switzerland’s overall relations with the EU in jeopardy – was rejected by 61.7% of voters, final results showed.

The EU had made it clear that freedom of movement was indivisible from the rest of their relationship, and that ending it would also mean ending trade, research and transport treaties, just as for the UK. Swiss voters clearly value those. And hopefully, it'll mean a fall in the fortunes of the People's Party as well.

Time to cap executive salaries

While ordinary kiwis' wages and living standards are going backwards, corporate CEOs continue to make out like bandits:

The pay between the pay of top chief executives and the staff they manage appears to be growing.

In the latest Fairfax annual survey of pay rates at listed companies, the average pay of CEOs in 2012 was 26.4 times that of the average employee in the same companies. That's up from a multiple of 22.5 times in 2011.

And note that this excludes investment companies and the finance industry, where the real pillage happens.

Stopping inequality means not just lifting the bottom, but also capping the unjustifiable excess at the top. More countries are giving corporate shareholders a say on pay, but that's a weak pressure because most companies are owned by other companies and have their positions determined by high-paid executives with an incentive to support the current system. Interestingly, Switzerland passed a referendum "against rip-off salaries" earlier this year, setting tighter legal limits around the setting of executive pay (and requiring pension funds to vote in the interests of their policy-holders while outlawing company directors from holding proxies), but that hasn't been enough. So next month they'll be voting for a hard cap on executive remuneration, limiting it to 12 times what a company's lowest-paid staff member earns in a year. Naturally, the Swiss government - a reliable pawn of corporate interests - opposes the measure, citing the usual fears against capital flight and lost taxes (and ultimately "confidence", which tells you what bullshit it is). But that's exactly what referenda are for: so the people can legislate in the face of government opposition, and reclaim government for themselves.

It would be nice to see a similar measure in New Zealand. But Labour is too afraid of, too subservient to the rich to ever dare. Unless we gave them a mandate through a referendum.

A UBI for Switzerland?

Switzerland will hold a referendum on a Universal Basic Income:

Switzerland will hold a vote on whether to introduce a basic income for all adults, in a further sign of growing public activism over pay inequality since the financial crisis.

A grassroots committee is calling for all adults in Switzerland to receive an unconditional income of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,800) per month from the state, with the aim of providing a financial safety net for the population.

Organizers submitted more than the 100,000 signatures needed to call a referendum on Friday and tipped a truckload of 8 million five-rappen coins outside the parliament building in Berne, one for each person living in Switzerland.

There's no hints yet on its chances of success, but I'll be watching it closely. I've long argued that a UBI should be one of the key goals from the left. Quite apart from ensuring basic wellbeing for all (without the stigmatisation of the benefit system), it will also give us control over our lives and permanently remove the employers' boot from our neck. And if Switzerland votes for one, we'll have a chance to see about the implementation details.

New Fisk

Jailed in Geneva - the colonel who stood up against Mubarak, but refused to spy for the Swiss

Swiss minaret ban goes to court

Last month, in an appalling display of xenophobia and religious bigotry, Switzerland voted in a referendum to ban minarets. Now the ban is being challenged in the European Court of Human Rights.

IMHO the challengers have an open and shut case. The European Convention on Human Rights affirms the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the right to manifest one's beliefs alone or with others in public or in private. Such manifestation can only be subjected to such restrictions as

are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

The minaret ban infringes this right, by restricting the right of Swiss Muslims to build their preferred religious buildings. Other religions with similar buildings - Christians with belltowers, for example - are unaffected. That's a prima facie case of discrimination right there. And it does it specifically in an effort to prevent the growth and visibility of that religion. In other words, the law is a deliberate attempt to interfere in religious freedom.

The interesting bit is that the Swiss government opposes the ban, and will be arguing against it in Strasbourg. Which makes you wonder why a hearing is necessary at all. Can't they just settle and save everyone the time?

No freedom of religion in Switzerland

Switzerland has voted in a referendum to ban minarets. I am simply appalled. This is an outright attack on freedom of religion, specifically the freedom of Muslims to build religious buildings, and if it was reversed and applied to e.g. church spires, people would instantly recognise this.

The good news is that Switzerland is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, which affirms freedom of religion. The Convention is legally binding and enforceable on its members through the European Court of Human Rights, and it is difficult to see how the ban could survive a legal challenge. OTOH, the Court has previously upheld a Turkish law banning headscarves, so they may simply decide that allowing Christians but not Muslims to express their faith in architecture is within the "margin of appreciation" granted to states, and effectively piss on the document they are supposed to be enforcing.

This is also a perfect example of how citizens initiated referenda can be used by a majority to victimise and oppress a minority, and a strong argument for building human rights safeguards into any system of binding referenda.

New Fisk

The curious case of the missing Egyptian and the Swiss police

European elections

Switzerland and Poland went to the polls yesterday in Parliamentary elections. In Switzerland, the racist Swiss People's Party - those of the infamous white sheep / black sheep ad - won the largest share of the vote and will form the core of the government. Their plans include kicking out immigrants and banning the construction of minarets (but not churches, of course). Meanwhile, in Poland it looks like the lunatic "Law and Justice" party has been toppled, and its even-more-lunatic (not to mention anti-semitic, anti-gay, and "barely crypto-fascist") coalition partners evicted from Parliament. Instead, Poland will likely be governed by the economically ultra-right Civic Platform, in coalition with the more centrist and agrarian Polish People's Party. It says something about the craziness of Polish politics that this is actually an improvement.

European Tribune has some good discussion threads here and here.