POLITICS-SWITZERLAND: UN Membership Bid Awaits Referendum Results

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Feb 28 2002 (IPS) - A “yes” victory in Sunday’s referendum on whether Switzerland should join the United Nations could end the country’s long history of isolation, but it could also terminate its tradition of neutrality, say critics.

Within the international forum, which has 189 member countries, only two states hold observer status: the Vatican and Switzerland.

The 26 cantons of the Helvetic Confederation, as Switzerland is also known, hold a total population of 7.3 million people, and an electorate of 4.7 million. The voters will have the opportunity to choose “yes” or “no” as to whether their country should seek UN membership.

Fifteen years ago, at a similar political crossroads, 75.7 percent of the Swiss electorate rejected a ballot initiative to join the UN that had been proposed by the federal government and parliament.

The 1986 referendum, with the Cold War still under way, reflected the Swiss people’s desire to maintain their country’s neutrality, which many see as the secret to the peaceful survival of the tiny country.

The issues that fuel the most debate – then and now – refer to Switzerland’s solidarity with the international community, isolation, and the lack of obligation in taking decisions of a global scope.

Ironically, Geneva, in western Switzerland, is the site of the UN’s second most important headquarters, after New York. The city is also home to some of the international forum’s top agencies, and to other international organisations.

Based in Geneva are the International Trade Centre, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commission on Human Rights, World Health Organisation, World Meteorological Organisation, World Trade Organisation and the International Labour Organisation, among others.

Also headquartered here is the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the world’s leading watchdog for humanitarian law and action.

Opinion polls conducted in recent weeks give a slight majority, 54 to 56 percent, in favour of UN membership.

But the decision will also depend on a majority of Swiss cantons adopting the same criteria. Political analysts point out that in the small Swiss-German cantons feelings against joining the UN predominate.

The Confederation is made up of 26 cantons, with the main language spoken being either French, German, Italian or Romanche, but most are from the Swiss-German region.

Those opposed to Switzerland joining the UN, who are found mostly in the ranks of the political right, argue that membership would undermine the country’s independence and sovereignty.

Those in favour of the nation’s UN membership respond that Switzerland already respects the UN Charter and implements the decisions of the Security Council even though the international forum has no authority to intervene in Switzerland’s domestic affairs.

However, it is precisely the Security Council and the veto rights of its five permanent members (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) that Swiss critics of the UN point to.

When UN-imposed sanctions are of an economic nature, say the UN defenders, they do not affect neutrality. Switzerland has been applying them for the last 10 years without undercutting this long-held principle.

As far as military measures, they add, they are non-coercive and no country is obligated to provide troops for UN-led operations.

But such arguments do not convince Christoph Blocher, a wealthy industrialist from the extreme right who has become one of the figures garnering most political sympathy in this country.

The secret of Switzerland’s success and wealth, says Blocher, lies in its direct democratic system, its neutrality and its federalism.

Blocher is stoking fear among the electorate that entry into the UN would mean losing these advantages. It is unacceptable that the Security Council “comes and tells us what we have to do,” says the nationalist leader.

The campaign against joining the UN gathered strength a year ago, when 76.7 percent of the voters in a referendum rejected the idea of beginning negotiations for Switzerland to enter the European Union (EU).

But the vote against becoming part of the EU had the support of the country’s leading economic and financial organisations. In contrast, they back the idea of UN membership.

Becoming a member of the UN would improve Switzerland’s image in the world and would not have economic costs for the country, says labour leader Jean-Claude Rennwald.

This is not true in the case of joining the European bloc, which would require negotiations on economic and financial matters, particularly Switzerland’s most prized treasure: the banking secret.

Rennwald justified the support of the political left for Swiss membership in the UN, saying it is necessary to create a counterweight to U.S. hegemony on the international stage.

He added that the left would support poor countries, which need the international forum to make their voices heard, otherwise they are drowned out by the world’s powerful nations.