Sat, Feb 10th 2024
SVP’s push against “Switzerland of 10 million” gains momentum, collecting over 110,000 signatures to curb immigration and shape sustainable population growth.
According to its Zurich National Councillor Thomas Matter, the SVP has already collected the signatures for its new initiative to limit immigration. The party launched the petition against a “Switzerland of 10 million” in July.
“The initiative stands,” said Matter in an interview with “Blick” on Saturday. Around 110,000 certified signatures had been collected, and the sections were now asked to return the remaining signature forms quickly.
According to Matter, the SVP intends to submit the signatures at the end of March or early April. Theoretically, the party would still have until January 4, 2025, to collect signatures.
The popular initiative “No 10 million Switzerland! (sustainability initiative)” calls for a new article on “sustainable population development” to be added to the Federal Constitution. If the initiative is accepted, Switzerland’s permanent resident population should not exceed ten million people before 2050.
If Switzerland’s permanent resident population exceeds nine and a half million people, parliament and the Federal Council would first have to take measures in the area of asylum, according to the initiative’s text. For example, once the 9.5 million threshold has been exceeded, temporarily admitted persons can no longer obtain a residence or settlement permit.
If these measures are insufficient, the initiative calls for the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons with the EU to be terminated.
©Keystone/SDA
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