Champagne for the losers
Schalk, Adolph
SWISS REFERENDUM CHAMPAGNE FOR THE ARMY ON THE DEFENSIVE In Commonweal's issue of June 2,1989, Adolph Schalk reported on the unprecedented and controversial Swiss initiative to abolish their...
...It sent army medical teams and election observers to Namibia...
...The "victorious defeat" is all the more surprising inasmuch as the army opponents only three years ago received a mere 13 percent support in opinion polls...
...But the army's backers will hardly forfeit their essential trumps...
...The two French-speaking cantons of Geneva and Jura adopted the initiative outright Further election analyses showed that more men than women favored dismantling the army, as did voters with a higher education...
...The author comments: It was hard to believe one's eyes on election night Telecasts showed backers of the defeated initiative exuberantly emptying champagne bottles, while their victorious opponents came across as disgruntled sourpusses...
...In a European war it would be no match against technologically superior opponents...
...Most cities (Zurich, 38.8 percent) showed even higher percentages in favor of the initiative...
...Now as then, they see the election as only a phase of a continuing educational process of awakening the Swiss people to a new consciousness and of creating an internationally-minded, peace-oriented society...
...People who live near shooting ranges, military airports, and maneuver areas voted strongly in favor of the initiative...
...The GSoA's moral victory gives rise to high hopes: alternative civilian service (instead of prison) for conscientious objectors...
...Army proponents allege that many voters were not really against the army, but supported the initiative "to teach the army a lesson," i.e., to force reforms and drastic reductions in military expenditures...
...they were treated as social outcasts by the populace and silenced into oblivion by the media...
...SWISS REFERENDUM CHAMPAGNE FOR THE ARMY ON THE DEFENSIVE In Commonweal's issue of June 2,1989, Adolph Schalk reported on the unprecedented and controversial Swiss initiative to abolish their army...
...Moreover, Swiss neutrality is making less and less sense in a time when pollution, drugs, AIDS, crime, poverty, hunger, terrorism require international collaboration...
...The tally-1,052,218 "yes" votes against 1,903,797 "no's" (64.4 percent)-has forced the army into a defensive position...
...tighter restrictions against arms exports...
...In their eyes, the Swiss army is obsolete...
...Canton Uri, with the nation's most strategic army installations (Gotthard Massif) and vitally dependent on army-related industry, voted 76.1 percent against...
...The majority of voters between twenty and forty-four-i.e., those now serving in the armed forces-decidedly favored the initiative while seniors predominantly rejected it...
...Army proponents were dismayed that a spectacular 35.6 percent of the the voters said "yes" to the initiative...
...After years of voter apathy, this emotionally-charged issue brought 68.6 percent of the electorate to the polls, the third largest turnout in this century...
...The billions spent on defense should be diverted to these problems...
...Even before election day the defense department reduced the discharge age from 50 to 42, the peacetime strength from 500,000 to 400,000, and plans further reductions...
...Many media commentators believe the sensational developments in Berlin and Eastern Europe influenced the result...
...It was far more than had been predicted by most opinion polls, and it was achieved in the face of determined opposition by most Swiss, the government, most political parties, and despite a deep-rooted tradition of armed neutrality...
...In spite of mudslinging on both sides, occasional displays of naivete\ arrogance, and incompetence by GSoA adherents in TV and radio debates, they have emerged from the campaign as respected and serious contenders...
...ADOLPH SCHALK Adolph Schalk is an American freelance writer, long resident in Switzerland...
...Goliath didn't topple from GSoA (Group for a Switzerland without an Army)'s slingshot, but he is still reeling from the impact of the referendum...
...In a national referendum on November 26 the Swiss electorate defeated the initiative...
...drastic cuts in military outlays...
...From the outset backers of GSoA had no illusions that they would win...
...Ignoring the GSoA's moral mandate, parliament has already approved a record military budget of $3 billion...
...Non-member Switzerland may even send soldiers to serve in the UN's Blue Helmet Peace Corps...
...Meanwhile, the GSoA is at the ready to launch a new petition for abolishing the army, if this proves necessary...
Vol. 117 • January 1990 • No. 1
