Editorial on multinationals –
Switzerland “irresponsible”?
After the rejection of a first text in 2020, a new initiative on responsible businesses is launched. The idea is double-edged.
Editorial Posted today at 5:28 p.m.
Flags in support of the Responsible International Business Initiative at the windows of Geneva during the 2020 campaign.
LMD
Subscribe now and enjoy the audio playback feature.
BotTalk
The responsible business initiative will go down in the annals of Swiss politics as one of the most contested ballots in the country. And its dramatic outcome on November 29, 2020 – the text failed in front of the majority of cantons, despite the support of 50.7% of the population – made it an unprecedented political object.
Instead of putting away their signs the day after the vote, the initiators continued to seek to influence Swiss politics to achieve their ends, with unsuspected means. The launch this Tuesday of a new “responsible business II” initiative is the culmination of this ongoing fight.
In Switzerland, it is well known that you often have to come back several times to win your case. But doing it four years after a refusal is special. Even if the initiators can argue that the international context has changed, there is an aftertaste of poorly digested revenge in this strategy. As if the fact that their text stumbled on the road to direct democracy was a historical error. In short, this decision by Switzerland was irresponsible.
Moreover, at the time, certain politicians did not hesitate to question the double majority of the people and the cantons. A system which is nevertheless designed to protect the different specificities and minorities of the country.
With this new initiative, the “coalition for responsible multinationals” is putting monumental pressure on the authorities to toughen the law. And if she wins her case, she does not rule out withdrawing her text.
This is perhaps the most comical thing in this whole affair: to correct the democratic decision of 2020, the initiators could override a new popular vote.
“The Tribune of Opinions”
With the Tribune of Opinions, find analyzes, editorials, readers’ letters, expert opinions… So much insight to form your own opinion every Monday.
Other newsletters
Log in
Florent Quiquerez has been a journalist in the Switzerland section since 2015. Specializing in politics, he primarily covers federal news. Previously, he worked as a parliamentary correspondent for Radios Régionales Romandes.More info
Did you find an error? Please report it to us.
0 comments
