officially, neither the burqa (a kind of long piece of cloth that covers women from head to toe and provided with a mesh slit at eye level) nor the niqab (which completely covers the body and face with the exception of eyes) are not mentioned. And yet, everyone understands what is targeted. The Swiss are due to vote on Sunday March 7 to allow or ban facial concealment. The polls give a narrow majority for this initiative, which comes after years of debate.
The slogans on the campaign posters remove all doubt: “Stop radical Islamism” or “Stop extremism”, and show women in niqabs. The posters of the opponents of the yes urge them to vote “no to an Islamophobic, absurd and useless” anti-burqa “law. If the yes should prevail, it will then be prohibited to completely cover the face in public, but exceptions are provided for places of worship, for example.
“In addition to being useless, this text is racist and sexist. We believe that in 2021, as feminists, it is not acceptable for the Swiss Constitution to have an article which prescribes or prohibits clothing for women of any kind, ”Ines told Agence France-Presse. El Shikh, spokesperson for the group of Muslim feminists “The purple scarves”. For her, the bill creates the illusion of a problem where there is none and concerns only a few dozen women.
Government opposition
“The target of the initiative, it is not the Muslims, we do not question their religious practices”, affirms to Agence France-Presse Jean-Luc Addor, the spokesperson of the yes and member of the party of the populist right UDC. For him, it is about defending “the values of our civilization”. The federal government and parliament oppose this measure, arguing that the initiative addresses a problem that does not exist.
Their counter-proposal (which would be immediately adopted if the yes fails) would oblige people to show their faces as soon as the authorities require it for identification purposes, at borders for example. Fines of up to 10,000 Swiss francs (just over 9,000 euros) can be imposed on offenders. The vast majority of women who wear the niqab are tourists. It was not uncommon before the coronavirus pandemic to see them in luxury boutiques in central Geneva shopping there.
The population must also vote on two other subjects including, for the first time, a trade agreement, in this case with Indonesia. The other referendum concerns the adoption of an electronic identity approved by the federal state which would facilitate and secure many online procedures. It would be granted on a voluntary basis to a company approved by the Federal State. Results are expected in the afternoon, with polling stations all closing at 11:00 GMT. The vast majority of Swiss people vote in advance.
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