Clear majority against complete privatization of Swisscom
Published: Thursday, Jul 4th 2024, 09:20
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A sale of the federal government's stake in Swisscom would not currently find a majority at the ballot box. Two thirds of voters would currently vote against complete privatization. This is the conclusion of a representative survey commissioned by the Syndicom trade union.
In the survey conducted by the JRC Bern research institute, 67% of respondents said they were definitely or somewhat against the privatization of Swisscom. 26% were definitely or somewhat in favor of selling the Confederation's stake. 9% were undecided or gave no answer.
Syndicom presented the results of the survey at a media conference in Bern on Thursday.
Rejection in all camps
The survey shows "no" majorities among supporters of all parties and in all language regions, with the clearest rejection among the Green and SP base with "no" majorities of 88% and 69% respectively. Supporters of the GLP are the least skeptical, with 57% of them voting "no".
The background to this is the discussions surrounding the financial situation of the federal government. In this context, FDP President Thierry Burkart spoke positively about privatization in an interview with the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" in May.
"We should definitely look into this. Swisscom's public service is only a small part that could be maintained with service agreements," said the Councillor of States from Aargau.
"Sale of the silverware"
The Federal Council is also currently examining how to proceed with Swisscom. The Confederation currently holds 51% of Swisscom shares.
Syndicom used the media conference to counter the arguments of those in favour of privatization. If necessary, the union will call for a referendum, the union declared.
A Swisscom privatization would be a sale of silverware without necessity, Syndicom wrote in a press release. A sale would also not make financial sense, as Swisscom pays an annual dividend of over half a billion francs to the federal government, which would not be paid in the event of privatization.
"Superfluous debate"
Lucerne SP National Councillor David Roth accused the conservatives of ideological stubbornness: "If they want to keep Switzerland busy with this superfluous debate, we regret it."
Daniel Hügli, member of the Syndicom Executive Board, emphasized the importance of Swisscom for the universal service, even in peripheral regions. As the majority owner, the Confederation guarantees Swisscom the necessary stability for investments, for example in the expansion of fiber optic networks.
A look abroad shows that private, profit-oriented companies are not doing the same, said Hügli: "Unlike in Germany and Austria, fiber optic expansion is progressing rapidly in Switzerland."
For the study, JRC Bern interviewed 1007 people by telephone from April 3 to May 4. The data was then weighted so that it is representative of the entire voting population. According to the authors of the study, the sampling error is +/-3.1 percent.
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