Greater than 60 p.c of voters will vote sure, or are contemplating doing so, in upcoming referendum, survey reveals.
A transparent majority of Swiss voters favour introducing a nationwide prohibition towards the carrying of full facial coverings corresponding to burqas and niqabs in public areas, a ballot confirmed on Friday.
In keeping with the Tamedia ballot of 15,000 eligible voters, 63 p.c of these questioned stated they’d vote sure or have been contemplating voting sure in an upcoming referendum on the so-called “burqa ban”, the Tages Anzeiger newspaper reported.
The Swiss are set to vote on whether or not they wish to ban full facial coverings in public on March 7, after they may even vote on a variety of different points as a part of the nation’s direct democratic system.
The textual content of the proposed ban doesn’t point out Muslim veils explicitly, stating solely that “nobody shall cowl their face in public, nor in areas accessible to the general public or in areas the place providers are ordinarily accessible to all”.
However the proposal, which has been opposed by the Swiss authorities, is broadly seen as concentrating on niqabs, burqas and different face-covering veils worn by some Muslim girls.
The initiative proposes some exceptions to the ban, together with in “locations of worship” and for “well being causes”.
The grouping behind the proposal – the “Egerkinger Komitee” – consists of members of the right-wing Swiss Individuals’s Celebration (SVP). Some left-leaning politicians have additionally joined the marketing campaign within the title of defending girls’s rights.
Dangerous concept
However the Swiss authorities has warned towards a nationwide constitutional ban, saying this week such a transfer was a foul concept. Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter confused that ladies carrying full facial veils have been not often seen in Switzerland.
She additionally stated that the majority girls seen within the nation carrying such veils are vacationers.
Keller-Sutter insisted the difficulty ought to be left as much as Switzerland’s 26 cantons.
Two cantons, Ticino and St Gallen, have already launched such bans, whereas three different cantons, Zurich, Solothurn and Glarus, have rejected doing so lately.
The federal government and parliament are backing a counterproposal, which might require folks to disclose their faces to the authorities for identification functions, for example at borders or on public transport.
Fines of as much as 10,000 Swiss francs ($11,300) may very well be given to anybody who refused, in line with the counterproposal, which is able to enter into pressure if the proposal to ban full facial coverings is rejected.
The “Egerkinger Komitee” was additionally behind Switzerland’s 2009 transfer to ban the development of recent minarets, which was authorized by practically 60 p.c of voters.
Supporters of the 2009 proposal noticed the minarets as alien to Swiss traditions and values.
Muslims make up solely about 5 p.c of Switzerland’s 8.6 million folks, official statistics present.