Swiss vote on UN membership
Swiss voters today decide whether their country should join the United Nations after more than five decades on the fringes.
Impassioned appeals from nationalists fuelled opposition to the government-backed referendum to join 189 countries in the world body.
Switzerland has long been a dues-paying member of some UN specialised agencies like the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation.
But it remains - with the Vatican - an observer state in the UN General Assembly.
Seventy-five percent of Swiss rejected UN membership in a similar referendum in 1986, backing opponents who said membership would let East-West polarisation compromise Swiss neutrality.
But the government believes the political climate has changed since the height of the Cold War, and that it is time for the seven million Swiss to play a full role in the world.
Opponents claim UN membership would force Switzerland to abandon its cherished sovereignty and submit to the political dictates of the five permanent members of the Security Council, such as the imposition of sanctions on countries like Iraq.
Recent opinion polls have predicted about 56% support for membership.
But, under the Swiss constitution, membership needs a double approval - not only a majority of those voting nationwide but also a majority in at least 12 of the country’s 23 cantons or states.
And polls have indicated that the cantonal vote could go either way.
The cantonal provision is a part of system that gives voters - even in the small, independent-minded mountain cantons - a strong control over major national decisions.
Switzerland already provides logistical help to peacekeeping operations and invariably follows UN sanctions.
The government - backed by Swiss industry, banks and interest groups - fears another rejection of full membership will make Switzerland an international outcast with a selfish and uncaring reputation.
Leading the opposition has been Christoph Blocher - a billionaire industrialist who says Switzerland is successful and wealthy precisely because it is different.
‘‘We have our system of direct democracy, neutrality and federalism. We would lose that if we became a member of the United Nations,‘‘ Blocher said in a recent debate.
Blocher, a leader of the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, swung a 1992 vote against Swiss membership in a loose European free trade pact, forcing the government to put aside plans to join the European Union.
