Initial debate on the army message revolves around fundamental issues
Published: Wednesday, Sep 18th 2024, 16:30
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The National Council began its debate on the army dispatch on Wednesday with a fundamental discussion on the direction of the army. A minority of the pre-advisory committee requested that the corresponding federal decree not be adopted.
The Federal Council's draft lacks prioritization, said minority spokesperson Fabien Fivaz (Greens/NE.) There is a lack of consideration between new threats such as cyberattacks or disinformation. This would lead to an overly expensive solution that would necessitate savings in other areas.
A decision was initially pending, as were the responses from the other parties. Another of the five federal resolutions in the Armed Forces Dispatch, the one on the payment framework for the army for the next four years, was also contested.
The reason for this is that the National Council's Security Policy Committee (SIK-N) has not agreed on counter-financing the planned additional expenditure of CHF 4 billion. There is particular controversy as to whether a fund should be created for this purpose or whether the additional expenditure should be compensated for in other areas. As a result, the corresponding federal resolution was rejected in the overall vote in the committee. This is tantamount to a motion not to enter the debate.
Nevertheless, Martin Candinas (center/GR) pleaded for support on behalf of a minority. Anything else would be irresponsible. Candinas accused the left of not supporting the centrist proposal for the fund solution in the committee.
No decisions were initially made here either. However, Fabian Molina (SP/ZH) signaled in an interposed question that his party could now actually vote in favour of the centrist proposal.
The prerequisite for this is likely to be that a proposal by the left to waive the increase in the payment framework from CHF 25.8 billion to CHF 29.8 billion does not receive a majority beforehand.
©Keystone/SDA
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