Parliamentary committees want to stem the flood of lists in elections
Published: Tuesday, Jun 18th 2024, 16:20
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The relevant parliamentary committees are calling for reforms to the Swiss political system. The flood of lists in national elections is to be curbed. The Federal Council should also have to adhere to new guidelines when determining votes.
The State Policy Committee of the Council of States (SPK-S) has approved the corresponding parliamentary initiatives launched by its sister committee of the National Council (SPK-N), as announced by the parliamentary services on Tuesday. The requested bills can now be drafted. The Federal Council and Parliament will be able to comment on them at a later date.
If the two SPKs have their way, a new method of allocating seats should be introduced from the 2031 National Council elections, namely the Sainte-Laguë method. This would increase the equal value of votes and would make list combinations superfluous. In addition, the number of sub-list combinations should be limited. These concerns were supported by a clear majority in the SPK-S by 9 votes to 2 with 2 abstentions.
The majority believes it makes sense to examine new approaches to the procedure for electing the National Council. It intends to make a definitive assessment once the bill is available, according to the statement.
New specifications for voting dates
The Council of States Committee decided even more clearly, by 10 votes to 0 with 2 abstentions, that the Federal Council should adhere to stricter guidelines when determining which proposals are to be voted on on which day. Accordingly, the date of submission of popular initiatives and referendums and the date of the final vote in the Federal Assembly should be decisive for the allocation of a bill to a specific voting date.
According to the Commission, it is unacceptable for the Federal Council to put bills to the vote earlier or later in response to tactical considerations or pressure from interest groups.
However, according to the press release, the SPK-S believes it is important to retain a certain degree of flexibility so that, for example, thematically related proposals can be put to the vote at the same time.
©Keystone/SDA
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