Switzerland has rejected far-right referendum proposal to cap its population at 10 million.
According to Al Jazeera, a projection on Sunday, June 14, revealed that the voters have rejected that population cap bid and prioritised economic stability and the country’s ties with the European Union over immigration concerns.
A preliminary projection published by national broadcaster SRF on Sunday indicated about 45 percent of voters were in favour of the proposal and 55 percent against, in a vote championed by the main right-wing party.
Final ballots were cast earlier that day on the measure proposed by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) which has fanned anti-migration sentiment over the years.
Driven by concerns about immigration, pressure on public services and housing, the constitutional change pitched by the SVP mandated that the population must not exceed 10 million by 2050.
Official projections put it on track to hit that figure by the early 2040s.
Urs Bieri from polling firm GFS Bern said the vote failed because although many people were worried about the rising population, they were not convinced by the plan and worried about the possible side-effects.
Bieri said, “From the very beginning it has been presented as the chaos initiative. Voters were worried about negative consequences for Switzerland’s relationship with the EU and for the labour market.”
“People are also worried about things like having enough care and health workers. Also there’s a feeling that in the current international environment it’s not sensible for a small country to do this,” he added.
If the yes vote had gone through, the government would have been forced to restrict asylum, family reunification and residency permits, and may have had to scrap Switzerland’s EU deal on the free movement of people.
