Swiss voters support ban on full-face coverings
Swiss voters gave their support to a ban on full-face coverings in public places.
The decision on Sunday was praised by supporters as protection against radical Islam, but opponents said it was discriminatory.
Results showed that 51.2 per cent of voters, and a majority of federal Switzerland’s cantons, supported the proposal.
The vote came after years of debate in Switzerland following similar bans in other European countries, and in some Muslim-majority states, despite full-face veils being a rare sight in Swiss streets.
About 1,426,992 voters were in favour of the ban, while 1,359,621 were against it, on a 50.8 per cent turnout.
The proposal “Yes to a ban on full facial coverings” did not explicitly mention the niqab and full-face veil. But campaign posters reading “Stop radical Islam”, and “Stop extremism”, featuring a woman in a black niqab, which leaves only the eyes showing, were plastered around Swiss cities.
The ban means that no one can cover their face completely in public.
But there will be exceptions, including places of worship and for health reasons.
The vote came at a time when masks are mandatory in shops and on public transport because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Marco Chiesa, head of the right-wing populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which led the push for a vote, voiced his relief at the result.
“We are glad,” Mr Chiesa said on Blick TV. “We don’t want radical Islam in our country at all.”
The SVP said the vote would protect the cohesion of Switzerland and advance the fight against political Islam, which it said was threatening the country’s liberal society.
Roger Nordmann, head of the socialist politicians in Parliament, estimated that a quarter of the left-wing electorate backed the initiative for secular and feminist reasons. “No problem has been solved and women’s rights have not progressed either,” Mr Nordmann told ATS news agency.
About 150 demonstrators opposed to the ban protested outside Parliament in Bern.
In Europe, Switzerland’s neighbours France and Austria have banned full-face coverings, as have Belgium, Bulgaria and Denmark.
Other European countries have bans for places such as schools and universities.
Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said the result was not a vote against Muslims, and that only a fraction of Muslims would be affected.
A 2019 Federal Statistical Office survey found that 5.5 per cent of the Swiss population were Muslims, mostly with roots in the former Yugoslavia.
The Islamic Central Council of Switzerland said the ban was “a great disappointment for Muslims”.
The council said Islamophobia was now a part of the Swiss constitution.
It said it would pay any fines incurred for wearing the niqab as long as it had the resources.
A 2009 vote that banned the construction of minarets on mosques sparked anger abroad.
“Swiss voters have once again approved an initiative that discriminates against one religious community in particular, needlessly fuelling division and fear,” said Amnesty International Switzerland’s women’s rights leader, Cyrielle Huguenot.
Mohamed Hamdaoui, a Bern regional politician and founder of the A Face Discovered campaign, said the vote was a huge relief that would “say ‘stop’ to Islamism”, not to Muslims, “who obviously have their place in this country”.