Zurich the decider as Swiss join UN
Swiss voters today approved joining the rest of the world as members of the United Nations, after sitting on the global sidelines for more than five decades.
Tallies reported from all precincts showed a nationwide margin of 55-45% in favour, but the crucial second hurdle - approval by at least half the country’s cantons (states) received a much narrower 12-11 result.
Nationwide 1,484,818 people voted in favour, compared with 1,236,067 against. The division between cantons held at 11-11 for two hours until Zurich, the largest canton, weighed in on the side of the U.N. supporters, assuring their victory.
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 such as 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 such as Iraq.
But, under the Swiss constitution, membership needs a double approval not only a majority of those voting nationwide and but also a majority in at least 12 of the country’s 23 cantons or states.
The first four cantons to report all of them smaller were all against U.N. membership, but then larger cantons such as Geneva started coming in with strong support.
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.
