BERLIN (AP) – Swiss voters on Sunday voted in favor of a ban on face masks, both the niqabs and burkas worn by some Muslim women in the country, and the ski masks and bandannas worn by protesters. A projection after polls showed a very close result.
The measure would prohibit covering your face in public places such as restaurants, sports stadiums, public transport or simply walking down the street. There are exceptions on religious grounds and for safety or health reasons, such as the face masks people now wear to protect against COVID-19, as well as for traditional carnival celebrations. Authorities have two years to draft detailed legislation.
The Swiss government is against the measure, saying people covering their faces are a ‘marginal’ issue. It is claimed that the measure could harm tourism – most Muslim women wearing such veils in Switzerland are visitors from affluent countries in the Persian Gulf, which are often attracted to Swiss lakes on the lake. And it says that it would not help the women involved.
It rather likes people to show their faces when the authorities request it.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. to maintain a basic principle that must show faces in a free society such as Switzerland.
A projection for national public broadcaster SRG after the polls put the support for the proposal at 51%, with an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Polls before the referendum suggested that support had eroded over the past few weeks, and that a close result was expected. Proposals need a majority of both voters and cantons to succeed in Switzerland’s regular referendum.
Two of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, or states, Ticino and St. Gallen, already has similar legislation that provides for fines for violations. National legislation would bring Switzerland in line with countries such as Belgium and France, which have already introduced similar measures.
Supporters include the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, which is the strongest in parliament and which supported previous measures, such as a ban on building new minarets approved by voters in 2009.
This time, a coalition of left-wing parties opposed to the proposal put up signs that read: ‘Absurd. Useless. Islamophobia. ”