Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to cap the country's population at 10 million. The initiative, led by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, was seen as a move against migration.

Nearly 55% of voters in Switzerland on Sunday rejected an initiative championed by the top right-wing party to cap the rich Alpine country’s population at 10 million, early results showed.

The populist Swiss People’s Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighboring European Union.

Some have dubbed the proposal a “Swiss Brexit” because it could jeopardize Switzerland’s deep ties to the European Union anchored by deals that foster economic growth, cultural ties and cross-border travel, among other things. Switzerland is not one of the EU’s 27 member states, but it is all but surrounded by four of them

  • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.worldEnglish
    91·
    13 hours ago

    I’m please to hear of the results. I didn’t think the “No” side would have won by more points because the pre-referendum polls showed neck and neck.

    Anyway, it’s a silly initiative to begin with. I was thinking even if the “Yes” side won, in my mind I’m thinking “let the leopards eat their faces”. Never mind the arguments on culture and so on, the economic damage to capping the population is insurmountable because it means fewer workers to migrate. And also, how is capping 10 million even logistically possible? Are they going to deport people? Who decides who to deport if a person is either long term resident or born and raised there? Are they going to do sterilisation if by some miracle there is a baby boom (which by the way, Switzerland like the rest of the world right now is having fewer fertility rate) and the population is reaching 10 million? Far right policies are moronic because they are purely based on emotions. Leopards eventually do eat their faces.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
      4·
      7 hours ago

      It’s exactly the same in the UK. The whole Brexit thing has been the unmitigated disaster that it was predicted that it was always going to be. It turns out that if you don’t let immigrants come into your country they can’t pick your crops for you they can’t drive your trucks and they can’t work in the hospitals (amazing who would have known).

      It’s almost as if immigration is useful.