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The Federal Council differs from the executive branch in other
countries. While it resembles a Cabinet, there are distinct
differences: (1) There is no prime minister. All seven members of the
Council are of equal rank (Minister). (2) The Council is not subject
to a non-confidence vote in Parliament. Technically, Switzerland is
therefore not a parliamentary democracy. (3) The parliament appoints
the Councillors every four year. No repeal is practically possible
during the tenure (early retreat is possible, see e.g. Mrs. Kopp, or
recently Mr. Stich). (4) There is really little control on what the
government does since most of its activities are classified. There can
be Parliament Commissions mandated to audit on special cases.
Switzerland has been governed by a grand coalition since 1959. The
`magic formula' defines the composition of the grand coalition of the
executive. It permits almost all important Swiss Parties (both
right-wing and left-wing) to have a seat (or more than one). Another
`magic formula rule' states that there must be 4 Swiss-German,
2 Swiss-French, and, if possible 1 Swiss-Italian.
The rule in the Constitution forbidding more than one Councillor from
one Canton (the goal was to prevent a single Canton, e.g. Zuerich for
Swiss-German, or Geneva for French-speaking region, to get too much
power) was abrogated after a few clever circumventions (election of
Ruth DREIFUSS, see [4]).
The parties represented are:
Center Democratic Union (center-right[1]) (1) [ SVP ]
(This can be translated also by Swiss People's Party or the
Agrarian Party)
Radical Democratic Party (moderate right) (2) [ FDP ]
(This may be translated as Liberal Democratic Party, however,
there is another Liberal party mainly in the French-speaking part,
thus I took the French translation.)
Social-Democratic Party (moderate left/left) (2) [ SP ]
Christian Democratic Party (moderate right) (2) [ CVP ]
These four are the major parties in Switzerland, but there are many
more, on both sides of the spectrum. It should be noted that the same
party can have quite different points of view depending on the canton,
a well-known example is SVP Bern and SVP Zurich. CVP, FDP and SVP are
all considered on the right, with SVP usually being the most
conservative and sometimes linked to rural communities. FDP is the
big business's party, and CVP is predominant in Roman Catholic cantons. SP
is the only major party of the left, but often has alliances with the
Green Party (ecologists) and other groups with common interests.
Other Swiss Parties:
Liberal Party (LPS) (right)
Swiss democrats (SD) (extreme-right)
Communist Party (extreme-left)
Partei der Arbeit (PDA)
Parti du Travail (PdT)
Parti Ouvrier Populaire (POP)
Liberty Party (right to extreme-right)
Green Party (GPS) (moderate left)
Independent Party (LdU) (center-right)
Ticino League (right to extreme-right)
SolidariteS (moderate left)
While the representation of parties in the executive has been constant
for the last decades, their seats in the Parliament depends on the
vote shares. Here is the current representation (next elections
October 1995):
National council:
seats (200 total) FDP 44, SP 42, CVP 37, SVP 25, GPS 14, LPS 10,
AP 8, LdU 6, SD 5, EVP 3, PdA 2, Ticino League 2,
other 2.
Council of States:
seats (46 total) FDP 18, CVP 16, SVP 4, SP 3, LPS 3, LdU 1,
Ticino League 1
There is a federal right for initiative and referendum. The procedure
for an initiative is as follows:
a) form a committee and compose the text of the proposed new law
b) try to find 100,000 signatures in less than 18[3] months
c) if you have them: deposit the initiative in the federal chancellery
d) the Federal Assembly either rejects or accepts the initiative (usually
based on a government proposal). In some cases the Assembly
introduces an alternative version.
e) on that basis, the federal chancellery sends a small information
booklet to each voter outlining the parliament's position on
the initiative and the arguments of the committee.
f) the people must vote on the initiative and on a possible
alternative.
Usually, the people vote in conformity with the position taken on
the issue by the Federal Assembly and Council. In rare instances,
the people vote against the explicit suggestions of the government; then,
however, the people are right :-)[2]
[1] In some Cantons, it is more right than center-right (e.g. Zuerich).
[2] In some rare and specific cases, some initiatives have been declared
invalid. Usually it is because the committee did not respect the unity
of content (i.e. do not mix up subjects demagogigally). One could argue
that the Parliament itself does usually not propose votes which
respect the unity of content.
[3] Referendum needs 50.000 in 3 months.
[4] In March 1993, the Federal Counciler Rene FELBER announced his
resignation. As he was SP, and because of the ``magic formula'', the
seat was implicitly reserved for SP, and possibly for a French-speaking
representative. Francis MATTHEY, a Neuchatel SP was elected (the
official candidate was Christiane BRUNNER, with almost no votes). The
President of the SP party, Peter BODENMANN and the feminists of the
SP Party declared that a woman was necessary and Francis MATTHEY was
forced to refuse its election, against the wishes of the Neuchatel
section's President (which was a woman, BTW). As it was clear that
Christiane BRUNNER would never be elected (not as a woman,
but as a person) and that SP could lose a seat, the SP party proposed
Ruth DREIFUSS, a lot more moderate. The problem was the
one-counciler-per-canton Constitutional rule. Ruth DREIFUSS promptly
officially established to Geneva to circumvent the rule. The
whole event has been presented by SP as being the great victory
for feminism. Strangely enough, feminist deputies from other
parties, and some from the SP Party, were not quite sure that this
dramatic ``mise-en-scene'' was necessary.
2.4.4 For more information
For a more extensive chapter on Swiss foreign policy you might want to
access http://www-scf.usc.edu/~sschmidt/swiss.html
The Federal Constitution was revised and adopted in june 1999.
The Swiss Confederation has announced on 15/09/95 a WWW server at
http://www.admin.ch/
it contains very interesting information about the federal sessions,
members and issues.
2.5 Issues
2.5.1 Federalism and multiculturalism
One of the riches of Switzerland is its multi-cultural fabric:
recently, the Parliament recognized Rumantsch as an official language
(before, it was only a national language, i.e. not used in the
administration). After the mandatory vote (March 96) for the change in
the Federal Constitution, Rumantsch is now a national and an official
language in Switzerland. Most people in Switzerland want to preserve
the national cohesion: however, there are differences between cultural
regions (and between town and rural areas) and sometimes it poses
problems (recent votes have shown the distance between, for example,
French-speaking regions and Swiss-German-speaking region, and between
small towns and rural areas and big cities).
About Rumantsch: The URL http://xmission.com/~pengar/non-profit/PUNTS
points to a newspaper in (Grischuns) Rumantsch. While there are 4 more
Rumantsch dialects, this one appears to be the most popular
one. Please note that Rumantsch uses umlauts so make sure your WWW
browser can handle that.
This multi-culturalism is possible because Switzerland is federalist. The
Confederation only takes care of some important charges (such as military,
social insurance, treaty with other countries, and so on). Everything
else, for example education, police or public assistance is of the domain
of the Cantons (or the cities).
Laws are usually the same between Cantons, with some local exceptions
(notably, polizeistunde (close-down for pubs) or legality of
abortion). Some Cantons do apply Federal law differently than
others: for example, the French-speaking region (Welschschweiz, Suisse
romande) is very restrictive regarding the consumption of drugs: some
cities (such as Zuerich) have been very permissive. With `conscience
objectors' (ie people not wanting to do the compulsory military
service), the situation is somewhat inverted.
There are also multiple religions in Switzerland. However, people are
usually not very active. Some Cantons include Church Tax (usually
catholic and/or reformist) in the taxes. People can circumvent those
by quitting church, whereas companies always have to pay. Most Cantons
are however separated from the Church, but recognize some churches as
official.
Like the Old Confederation, the constitution of 1848 discriminated
against Jewish people (in fact, against all non Christian
religions). Parliament abolished the relevant paragraphs in 1864/65
under the threat of economic sanctions by the USA, the Netherlands and
France. Also, until recently, the establishment of monastical retreats
and bishoprics was also subject to the authorization of the
Confederation (this is/was in the Constitution).
1980:
Roman Catholic: 47.6%
Reformed Church (Protestant): 44.3%
Others: 8.1%
2.5.2 Transportation
If Switzerland wants to continue to be the gateway between the North
and South of Europe (and of course also between Western and Eastern
Europe), the transport infrastructure must be further developed. A
recent example of such investments is the NEAT project, a transalpine
railroad line. This project is projected to cost 15.000.000.000 Swiss
Francs. There has been a vote on it, and now there are financial
problems.
Following a vote for a constitutional amendment, no construction of
new roads for transit traffic is allowed and all transit traffic is
supposed to use railways rather than road trucks, at the latest from
2020 on. The goal is to force transportation of goods via the
railways, due to public concerns about the ever-increasing heavy truck
traffic passing through towns and ecologically-sensitive alpine
passes.
2.5.3 EU and participation in other international organizations
Currently these are hot topics in Switzerland. Switzerland is not a
member of EU. As of 2002-03-03, Switzerland is now a member of UNO
(initiative accepted by the people): in addition, Switzerland has
participated, in the past, in most UNO offices and projects and tries
to set up/has bilateral agreements with the EU. Switzerland *is* a
member of the European Council and holds full membership in other
pan-European and international organizations: the OSCE (formerly
CSCE), the ESA (European Space Agency) the OECD, the WTO, the World
Bank and the IMF to name only a few. Joining or not joining the EU is
really one of the hottest topics in Switzerland.
It is a pity that both the defenders and attackers of the
participation in the European Union are using demagogic arguments. A
key issue is the complete mobility rights enjoyed by EU citizens to
move within the EU. If Switzerland joined the EU, many citizens are
concerned that the traditional character of the Swiss people would be
swamped by an influx of foreigners no longer controllable by Swiss
law. (Remember that Switzerland already has one of the highest levels
of foreigners--more than one out of seven inhabitants--of any country
in the world. Some Cantons have rates above one third).
2.5.4 Military
See question 3.2
2.5.5 Immigrants, Foreign Workers, and Refugees
Switzerland has a long tradition of being a country prone to accept
refugees. It has also a relatively high percentage of foreigners (19%,
1995), which is explained only partly by the real difficulties
foreigners may have to become swiss (12 years staying). A nice and
entertaining movie on that subject, even if a little outdated, is
"Schweizermacher" / "Swiss makers" with Walo Luoend and Emile. The
policy of the government, especially regarding refugees has become
harsher.
Despite that, many new laws have been adopted to distinguish between
economic refugees (which do not have the right to be accepted) and
political refugees. There have also been votes on recurrent
anti-foreigner laws, but they have not been accepted by the
people. However, recently, the proposition to diminish the
restrictions on foreigner's flat and houses buyings has been
disapproved by the people (Lex Friedrich, June 95).
Also a simplification of the Swiss naturalization (which would have
made much easier for young foreigner living in CH to become swiss) has
been refused at the federal level. However, some Cantons (e.g. Neuchatel) have
however a lot more relaxed laws: the possibility for a foreigner to
vote and to be elected at the communal level; however, no extension
to the Cantonal level has been accepted. Recently, a new law
authorizing the immigration service to use more powerful means of
controlling immigration has been accepted (Constraints measures).
This however applies mainly to refugees.
Switzerland has made apologies (1995) to the Jewish people for the
attitude in World War II (Swiss official policy was not to accept
Jews; fortunately, however, many Swiss citizens have ignored the law,
fortunately. This is discussed in details in section 3.11).
The statute about foreigners who come to work for a season in Switzerland
(seasonal workers, A permit) is also being debated, being considered
unfair status by the EU as part of the bilateral agreements.
University students can work to some extent (REALLY?) but are not at
all allowed to bring their families to Switzerland (including wife and
children), like A licensees (see section 2.9.1 for details on the
Swiss permits and Swiss citizenship).
2.5.6 Working conditions
Unemployment rates are again lower in 2001 (tendance: rising, notably
because of the general slowdown and the Swissair crisis), at about
1.9%, down from 5% as of 1997.
Switzerland's competitiveness has fallen, mainly du to the value of
its money, and the high prices on goods. However, the conditions are
still very good, partly thanks to the Work Peace (an agreement between
unions and owners) and partly due to the political stability and to
the efficient infrastructure (plus still relatively low tax levels).
Note that there are differences between Cantons. For example Geneve
has more than 7% percent, and most Swiss-German Cantons are below
5%. However, Geneve is more than a specific case, since, e.g. Fribourg,
Neuchatel and Vaud are about 5% (July 1995). In most Cantons, the rate
is decreasing.
2.6 Visiting Switzerland
Switzerland has excellent tourist offices in many places, see 4 for
details. They offer you lots of free information.
Don't forget that voltage and frequency are different. USA is 110 V
at 60 Hz and Switzerland is 230 V at 50 Hz (soon: 240 at 50 Hz). Most
plugs are also different even if they look the same.
Modems must be approved by the Swiss Federal Communication Office
(German: BAKOM; French: OFCOM). Foreign versions usually work, except
you may have problems with the tax impulsion at 12 KHz. Using non
approved modems is illegal and may lead to fines and of course
confiscation of the equipment. You must also pay attention to the fact
that telephone connectors are different. Not only for historical
reasons you will encounter in Switzerland three different type of
connectors (round, rectangular, seldom RJ), but standard RJ connectors
don't have exactly the same wire-layout as in the US and
Canada. Adapters are available in stores in the US and
Canada but are quite expensive.
You can find some previews of Switzerland here:
http://www-internal.alphanet.ch/archives/gfx/postcards/
The official website of the Swiss Tourism Board is at:
http://www.myswitzerland.com
NOTE: Those images have been posted to USENET newsgroup
soc.culture.swiss, and thus I assume that using them is not infringing
any copyright. Please inform me if it is.
2.7 Looking for a job in Switzerland
Switzerland is not an immigration country. You only have a chance to
get a work permit (see section 2.9.1) if your profession is in high
demand in Switzerland. To be successful you must first find a company
willing to hire you. If you work in "high-tech" it is definitely
possible to find such a job. Best companies to try are large
technological companies, universities, institutes and banks.
2.8 School system
Compulsory school (and also non compulsory school, Universities,
except the Federal Institute of Technology) is set up by the
Cantons. Thus, there are differences between Cantons. Most of the
Cantons have however a compulsory school system as follows:
5 (or 6) years of primary school (6,7 to 12)
4 (or 3) years of secondary school (12 to 15)
The secondary school is usually separated in different sections,
such as Scientific, Classic and Modern. Some cantons do implement
a pre-professional section. Among others, you learn at least
three languages (yours, one other Swiss language, and another).
Usually this is French/German/English for French-speaking people, or
French/German/Italian. Most (if not all) Swiss-German Cantons teach
French.
Then, people may choose one of the following options:
a) do an apprenticeship (French: apprentissage/German: Lehrling)
while working, and obtain the Federal Certificate of Capacity.
b) go to technical school to become technician or engineer (this
is the same as an engineer in Germany or England). There are a lot
of technical schools / engineer schools. There is currently a
reform going on.
c) go to Gymnasium/Gymnase/Lycee (4 years) and get the Federal
Certificate of Maturity in Science, Letters or General matters
(the latter is not federally recognized, but there are agreements
between some Cantons). This is like a Baccalaureate in France.
d) go to Commercial School and get a Federal Certificate of Maturity.
e) go to private schools which deliver similar certificates. Most of
the Private schools are for dropouts, generally, who want to stay
in school, and these are not frequent cases. This does not include
the many Private schools for foreign people sending their children
in Switzerland, or Elitist (read: expensive) or Religious schools.
Option c and d allows to enter the Universities or ETH/EPF (Federal
Institute of Technology, two in Switzerland). There are some ways to
enter ETH/EPF with unrecognized certificates and gateways for ETS/HTL,
as long as you have solid math basis and you speak at least two swiss
languages (this is of course a big problem for ``Auslandschweizer'',
foreign Swiss citizens). There are many Universities, especially
in the French-speaking part, a lot less in the Swiss-German-speaking
region, and one in Tessin. They are in the process of merging
somewhat because of the costs involved.
The Universities are:
Geneve (http://www.unige.ch), Lausanne (http://www.unil.ch),
Fribourg (http://www.unifr.ch), Neuchatel (http://www.unine.ch),
Bern (http://www.unibe.ch), Zuerich (http://www.unizh.ch),
Basel (http://www.unibas.ch), Sankt-Gall (http://www.unisg.ch),
and Tessin (http://www.unisi.ch).
The Federal Institutes of Technology are:
ETHZ: Zuerich (http://www.ethz.ch)
EPFL: Lausanne (http://www.epfl.ch)
There are also a lot of technical schools (ETS/HTL), and some are
currently merging. To enter an HTL/ETS, you need a completed apprenticeship
Note that very few Swiss people go to University, since the practical
formation is very good and because, even if the direct costs for
studying is low (most universities and both EPF are under SFr 500.-
per semester) and the openness is high, the indirect costs (flat,
books, food) are quite high. For example, a shared flat in Lausanne
near the EPFL is more than 400.- SFr per month. An independent
``studio'' costs 500 to 600.-. Also note that the
women/men distribution is not equal (a lot less women), especially in
the technical and scientific world.
In Tessin, a study has shown that 35% of the people get a Certificate
of Maturity, and of them 90% go to Universities or Institute of
Technology. These numbers are fairly high for Switzerland.
Bildungsstatistik 1994 about the educational level of people age 20.
16 % has a Matura/Baccalaureate degree from a Gymnasium
(Automatic University Admission including Law and Med.)
3 % have a Education degree (elementary and high school teachers)
65 % have a professional degree (apprentice, vocational, technical schools)
(This includes people as skilled as branch director of banks or
nursing)
16 % have just the mandatory 9 years of elementary and high school
Note that the first category has 16% male and female, and the last 11%
male and 21% female.
A ``matura-reform'' is currently being undertaken: the goal is to
diminish the number of compulsory courses (for example even removing
the compulsory German course for French-speaking people and
vice-versa) but to allow a lot more freedom in course selection (``a
la carte''). It is also to change the old professional degrees into
something more ``European'' (people having a CFC will then have a
Technical Matura instead, a little like the French baccalaureate). This
is not easy to do (because the school system is cantonal) and is not
always seen as a good thing if this augments the number of people
frequenting universities at a time of ``numerus clausus'' proposals.
The reform is supposed to take 8 years until all cantons will have
harmonized their legislations.
The principal changes are summarized as follows:
- creation of ``fundamental courses'' which must be followed;
- definition of ``specific courses'', which is the main orientation
a student chooses;
- definition of ``complementary courses'', which are options;
- introduction of a final presentation on a specific subject (written
and oral form).
2.9 Swiss citizenship
2.9.1 The swiss permits
Switzerland has a complicated permit system. The permits define how
long the owner is able to stay, what are his rights, and so on. Many
international organizations have criticized it for being
protectionnist (especially the EU) and discriminatory against families
and Human rights. There have been discussions about changing the
policies, but nothing has really changed yet.
There are four types of work-permits in Switzerland: the A permit
(seasonal, 9 months, no right to bring the family), the B permit
(yearly, partial right to bring the family), the C permit (unlimited,
like Swiss citizenship except for voting rights and military
service. It allows the owner to establish freely and work in
Switzerland), and of course Swiss citizenship.
A permits can be changed into B after 4 years; B to C after 5 to 10
years. Work permits are issued by Cantons, based on quotas from the
Confederation, and always on request by a company, not an individual.
The permit is granted for a particular position with a particular
employer; the request therefore has to be filed by the employer. As a
rule, you have to prove that you cannot find an appropriate candidate
in the Swiss job market (i.e. Swiss and legal immigrants, holders of a
permit) for that particular position.
The so-called ``three circles policy'' defining countries more-or-less
prioritized actually prevents people from some countries to get a
permit. Easier is for people from the 1st circle (EU, mainly), and
from the 2nd circle (USA, Australia). The ``three circles policy'' is
being dismantled into a binary system, basically restricting further
the admissions.
There are exceptions of course for diplomats and international
organizations, students, husbands and wives of Swiss nationals.
The policy is quite protectionist and will probably evolve towards
more openness for EU countries, USA and Australia. Others (non-EU) may
find it even more difficult.
The law can be found at
http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/select.html
in French, German or Italian.
2.9.2 Obtaining the Swiss citizenship
Time spent as a student is definitely valid for residence when
applying for Swiss citizenship.
Also note that, if you apply for Swiss citizenship before 24, and
you are a male, you have great chances of doing the military
service.
With some countries (Italy, Germany, France), it is possible
to keep the original nationality under some conditions.
2.9.2.1 When married to a Swiss person
When you get married to a Swiss man/woman (the new legislation does
not make any difference, the old one did allow automatic Swiss
citizenship when a woman was married to a Swiss man), you'll have to
spend 3 years in Switzerland with your wife/husband in order to
qualify for naturalization. You are entitled to a B-permit for the
five first years, then a C (or you might apply for Swiss citizenship,
nothing is automatic out here).
Note that those three years account for the _same_ marriage. If you
divorce and remarry to a Swiss person, the counting restarts at zero.
The other possibility, when married, is having lived at least 5 years
in Switzerland, no matter if as legally working, refugee seeking,
student and/or husband/spouse of a Swiss (even of a former
marriage. This residence persiod has to be legal. Living illegally in
Switzerland doesn't count (of course).
The real difference with standard non-Swiss-married B-permit owners is
that, as you have the right to live in Switzerland, it is renewed in
one week. For other people with a B permit, there is much more
hassle. You have the same chances to find a job as swiss nationals,
except if your activity requires a Swiss passport (quite rare) or if
you are a MD (there is a huge amount of protectionism in medicine).
Children born of unmarried parents may apply for ``facilitated Swiss
citizenship'', provided that the father is Swiss and the child has
been living is Switzerland or with his father for 1 year, and the
child is under 22.
2.9.2.2 When not :-)
Patience, and money should help :-) (really, is there
someone wanting to complete that section in a non
Schweizermacher way ? :-)
3. Frequently Asked Questions
3.1 Internet in Switzerland
3.1.1 Service Providers
See http://www.yoodle.ch for a list of access (service?) providers in
Switzerland. (temporarily unavailable, use http://www.asdi.ch/providers/
instead)
3.1.2 Internet Coffee Shops
French-speaking part:
Geneva: Sports Palace, rue Michel Servet (behind the Cantonal Hospital)
Global Cafe, rue des Rois 71bis (> 15 SFr/hour)
Cours Commerciaux de Geneve (rez-de-chausse/cafeteria)
Fribourg
Neuchatel: Le 21.
Lausanne (Ecublens): Club Internet, Tir federal 80, (021) 691 25 93, but
this is not quite a coffee.
German-speaking part:
Basel
Bern (only 2 workstations and it is around 10 CHF for
half an hour; Berner Zeitung)
Aarau (Herzogstrasse 26)
Bremgarten (Restaurant Krone, Obertorplatz 7)
Olten (Heutronic Shop: six workstations, 15 CHF per hour,
refreshments included)
Zurzach (Promenadenstrasse 6; 10 workstations)
Zuerich (Rotwandstrasse 4, Uraniastrasse 4 and Bahnhof (by IBM it seems,
Stars American BAR & BISTRO, http://www.cybergate.ibm.ch))
Italian-speaking part:
Lugano (Hotel Colorado)
And it's not forbidden to drink virtual coffee here :-)
[ A list is available as: http://www.easynet.co.uk/pages/cafe/ccafe.htm
(this is not a mistyping, BTW, it is really .htm and not .html) ]
3.2 Military service / guns
3.2.1 Military service
Military service is compulsory for every male Swiss. There is no
civil service to substitute armed service (this was refused two times
in a vote). Every male Swiss citizen has to go to the army unless
physically or mentally handicapped or unless he can "prove" to a jury
of officers that he has sound religious reasons for refusing to do
service (Barras Law).
In rare cases, unarmed military service (e.g. medical or postal units)
is available for conscience reasons. Conscientious objectors are put
in prison. This fact has led to several citations of Switzerland by
the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, with little avail. For that
reason, objectors often try to circumvent military service citing
medical reasons. If declared unable for service, a citizen must serve
on the civil protection (similar to a fire brigade, however it is
separate from it and is only necessary in case of war, natural disaster
(floods, storms, avalanches) or industrial (chemical/nuclear)
incidents) and pay a military substitute tax (3% of total gross income).
Every soldier keeps his military outfit, his weapon, and war ammunition
at home at all times. The ammunition is sealed. The weapon can be used
for compulsory and voluntary shooting exercises, which are quite
popular (also drawing large female participation). The ammunition shall
only be opened in case of war.
After a basic (Academy) training of 100 days at about age 20, active
service requires 3 weeks long training courses approximately every
other year (or two weeks per year, depending on the affiliation) until
the soldier has served a total of 300 days. In addition, every
soldier must complete yearly shooting exercises, usually done in local
shooting ranges.
After completion of the basic training, a soldier can volunteer or can
be asked (and sometimes forced by law!) to become a non-commissioned
officer (corporal) and then officer. This costs a lot of time in
grade-``paying'' (one must do special schools and then redo a basic
training as corporal or officer). All military personnel (including
the Corps Commander, the highest ranking officer in peacetime) started
as private soldiers in Switzerland's militia army.
The Swiss army has approximately 400,000 soldiers (compared to 600,000
in Germany, a 15 times bigger country).
Women can join the military voluntarily. Their duties are often not
the same, but lately their chores can be almost everything except what
would be considered a direct exposure to the front in case of war.
A soldier (basically every male under 35) who leaves the country for a
period longer that 6 months, has to take leave from the army, must
deposit his military equipment and has to register with the embassy
abroad, and pay the military fee for three (or 5 ??) years.
In 1989 a left-wing/pacifist (not officially supported by the
social-democratic party, this party having officially stated for the
army in June 1989.) initiative led to a popular vote (this means a
vote by the people. Of course this vote WAS popular, too :-)) to
abolish the army. The initiative was rejected by 64.4% against 35.6%
of the votes. Other anti-military initiatives are in preparation
(e.g. for cutting the military budget in half, this one supported by
the social-democratic party). The 1989 vote made the Armee 95
military reform easier: this reform's goals were to reduce the
individual service period, diminish the number of active soldiers by
one third, and improve the technical equipment. Also this vote
probably changed the way Swiss people see the Military.
Note that the right-wing and center-right parties consider the
social-democratic party's attitude as duplicity (not supporting the
Army but being part of the government in the so-called ``Magic
Formula''), with more or less demagogy (because on other subjects,
like EC, those parties also experience internal ``divergences'').
There is a heated debate in Switzerland on the following topics:
o Role of the military (defense against whom, role in national union)
o Humanitarian missions of the military
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