Law question preoccupied politicians for decades
Published: Friday, Nov 24th 2023, 10:20
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With the transfer of Moutier to the canton of Jura, the decades-long Jura question is considered resolved. The conflict is over a hundred years old and dates back to the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
At that time, seven districts of the diocese of Basel were assigned to the canton of Bern: Pruntrut, Delsberg, Freiberge, Moutier, Courtelary, Neuenstadt and Laufen.
Tensions soon arose. The Jura people see themselves as a linguistic, cultural and religious minority. They also receive little attention from Bern in economic and transport terms.
In 1947, the conflict broke out openly when the Bernese Grand Council denied the Jura SP government councillor Georges Moeckli the building directorate. After several plebiscites, the Swiss people approved the formation of the new canton of Jura in 1978. This consists of the northern districts, while the southern districts remain with Bern.
Violent actions in the 80s
However, the Jura issue is still not completely resolved with the new canton. Separatists fought for the reunification of the southern districts with the new canton. Violent actions flared up again in the 1980s.
In 2002, the canton of Bern created a special statute that granted the Bernese Jura limited autonomy.
Two articles of the Jura cantonal constitution have repeatedly caused controversy in the Jura issue. Article 138 states that the canton of Jura "may include any part of the territory of Jura that was directly affected by the referendum of June 23, 1974".
In a somewhat less coded form, this means that the canton of Jura can incorporate all areas of the Bernese Jura. Article 139 states that the Jura can form a new canton with the Bernese Jura.
Several votes
In 2013, the population once again voted on whether to transfer the southern districts to the canton of Jura. The canton of Jura said yes, while the population in the Bernese Jura rejected the proposal resoundingly. Only Moutier voted yes.
The canton of Bern then allowed individual municipalities to vote on a change of canton if they so wished. After these votes, the Jura issue would be considered resolved, according to the agreement.
Moutier demanded such a vote. An initial ballot in 2017 had to be declared invalid due to serious irregularities. In 2021, the voters of the Bernese Jura town clearly said yes to the change of canton.
According to the agreement, the so-called "combat articles" 138 and 139 are also to be deleted from the Jura constitution with the change of canton from Moutier.
The signing of the concordat on Friday confirms the return to normalized relations between the two cantons. In the spirit of federal peace, which is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, they undertake to respect their territorial borders.
©Keystone/SDA
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