Switzerland may ban the burqa
As NashaGazeta.ch reminds us, back in 2013, residents of the canton of Ticino supported a ban on wearing the burqa and niqab. Concerns that anyone could be hiding behind a veil are growing not only in the Confederation but also in other European countries, where similar restrictions have been in place for several years.
Judging by the posters prepared by the initiators, their main grievances are directed not only against certain types of Muslim women's clothing but also against hooligans and other offenders who, for obvious reasons, wish to remain incognito.
It should be noted that the Egerkingen Committee already has a successful track record at the federal level: in 2009, the initiative to ban the construction of new minarets was approved in a referendum. Incidentally, the posters of that time also used the image of a woman in traditional Muslim clothing standing in front of a Swiss flag studded with minaret spires.
Members of the Egerkingen Committee announced their intention to put the new initiative to a nationwide vote early this year, but it was only recently that the text was submitted to the Federal Chancellery. What caused this delay?
Some experts believe that the Swiss People's Party (SVP), which supported the initiative, decided to move the start of signature collection closer to the federal elections scheduled for October 18, hoping to expand its base of supporters through such advertising. Oskar Freysinger, founder of the party's Valais branch, did not deny this possibility in an interview with the Tribune de Genève, citing the successful experience of the Green parties, who four years ago used the Fukushima disaster for the same purpose (recall that it was then that Switzerland decided to phase out nuclear energy).
However, the main reason the signature collection was postponed to autumn was the wait for the parliament's response to a similar initiative by Walter Wobmann. The initiators have no great illusions about the possibility of introducing such restrictions through parliament, preferring to act through the people, who they expect will support the ban.
'If you live in Switzerland, you can freely express your opinion and speak to each other with open faces, eye to eye,' explained Oskar Freysinger, the principle the initiators intend to defend, even though the burqa and other face-covering attire are not yet very common in the Confederation. According to government data, in 2013 only 130 Swiss residents wore the niqab or burqa.
Meanwhile, based on the initiative that residents of Ticino voted on two years ago (and which was later upheld by the Federal Court), a bill for its implementation was drafted. According to its text, the ban does not apply to doctors wearing masks for hygiene reasons; motorcyclists whose faces are covered by protective helmets; skiers protecting their faces from cold; carnival participants. The authors of the federal initiative intend to provide similar exceptions for the country's residents.
At the same time, no leniency is provided for wealthy guests from the Gulf states (who this ban would affect perhaps first and foremost), which has worried representatives of the tourism industry, who fear a decline in interest in Switzerland. 'These women do not just wander the streets in their burqas. They are often surrounded by bodyguards, under the close control of a sheikh. They arrive in huge luxury cars at jewelry stores, enter, make purchases, and leave immediately,' explained Oskar Freysinger, reminding that wearing clothing that completely covers the face and body is not a mandatory requirement in Islam. Muslims are aware that different laws apply in Switzerland and will not visit it less because of the ban, the politician is convinced.
The topic chosen by the SVP ahead of the elections, especially against the backdrop of the European migration crisis, could gain broad support and add points to the party itself. Objections on this issue are awkward to present even for left-wing parties, since it concerns a ban on symbols of women's submission in the East, writes Le Temps. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung has already called the initiative a 'pseudo-solution to a pseudo-problem.' Whether a 'dress code' will appear in the Confederation's Constitution now depends solely on its citizens.