BERLIN (AP) – Swiss voters gave their verdict on Sunday on the proposal to ban facial coverings, both the niqabs and the burqas worn by some Muslim women in the country and the ski masks and bandanas worn by the protesters. A projection after the polls closed pointed to a very close result.
The move would make it illegal to cover your face in public places like restaurants, stadiums, public transport or just walking on the street. There would be exceptions in religious places and for reasons of safety or health, such as the masks that people now use to protect themselves against COVID-19, as well as for traditional carnival celebrations. The authorities would have two years to draft detailed legislation.
The Swiss government opposes the measure and says that covering the face is a “marginal” issue. The report argues that the move could harm tourism – most Muslim women wearing these veils in Switzerland are visitors from wealthy Persian Gulf countries, who are often attracted to Swiss lakeside cities. And he says he would not help affected women.
Instead, it supports the requirement that people show their faces if requested by the authorities.
Supporters of the proposal, which is being voted on five years after it was launched and has come to be known colloquially as the “burka ban”, argue that facial coverage symbolizes repression of women and say the measure is necessary to defend the basic principle that faces should be shown in a free society like Switzerland.
A projection for the national public broadcaster SRG after the polls closed put the support for the proposal at 51%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Pre-referendum polls suggested that support had declined in the past few weeks, and a close result was expected. The proposals need a majority of voters and cantons to pass the frequent referenda in Switzerland.
Two of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, or states, Ticino and St. Gallen, already have similar legislation that provides for fines for transgressions. National legislation would bring Switzerland into line with countries like Belgium and France, which have already enacted similar measures.
Supporters include the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, which is the strongest in parliament and supported previous measures, such as a ban on building new minarets that voters approved in 2009.
This time, a coalition of left-wing parties that oppose the proposal has put up signs that say: “Absurd. Useless. Islamophobic. ”