Against "Left and Homeland Tiredness": The SVP celebrates itself at the delegate assembly

Against "Left and Home Tired": The SVP celebrates itself at the delegate assembly The delegates of the SVP formulated the slogans for the vote in November at the delegate assembly in Bulle on Saturday. The succession to Parmelin was not on the agenda of the delegate assembly. The SVP formulated the slogans for three out of four votes that will be decided on November 29th at its delegate assembly in Bulle: the financing of the 13th AHV pension, the revision of the War Material Act, and the so-called Fairness Initiative. For the fourth proposal, the fireworks initiative, the central executive of the SVP Switzerland had already decided on the no slogan on Friday evening. The party also reaffirmed its no vote on the EU treaty package and celebrated direct democracy in Bulle. A year before the national elections, the SVP spoke out for independence, self-responsibility, and freedom. It criticized the "Left and Home Tired," which attacked the self-determination of Switzerland and urged rapprochement with the EU. The National Councillor and Party President Marcel Dettling pointed out that the SVP could also gain ground in the cantons since the last national elections in 2023. The party has won a seat in the government council and 68 seats in the cantonal parliaments in five cantons (Grisons, Glarus, Valais, Solothurn, and Ticino), totaling 622 cantonal councillors and councilors. He said that the people chose the SVP because it fights for Switzerland. He was positively surprised that the Council of States had spoken clearly in favor of the majority in the EU debate. However, some federal politicians wanted to prevent a popular vote with a majority in the Council of States "with the Brussels marionettes Cassis and Jans." National Councillor Magdalena Martullo-Blocher (GR) called on the well over 340 delegates to fight the bilateral "EU subjugation treaties." Unilateral subjugation to a colonial master is not a relationship on equal footing. "It is a treaty that imposes foreign law on us, subjects us to foreign judges, and imposes foreign penalties." And she warned that the National Council could withdraw the demand for a double majority of the people and states in the December consultation. The People Has the Last Word The SVP Federal Council Albert Rösti emphasized the uniqueness of Switzerland, for which it is worth fighting, the political system, and direct democracy. Politicians in other countries must be explained that in Switzerland the population decides. This is also the case with the planned new agreements with the EU. Switzerland is stable because it has a collegial government in which the largest parties are represented. Federal President Guy Parmelin was absent. He is currently in Vietnam. Parmelin's succession in the Federal Council was not on the agenda. But the Valais Grand Council Jérôme Desmeules demanded that the SVP's voting ticket for Switzerland correspond and that at least one person from Romansh be up for election. The only candidate is still the Geneva National Councillor Céline Amaudruz. No Yes to Further Levies During the formulation of the slogans, the delegates followed the party leadership and rejected the increase in the value-added tax by 0.4 percent to finance the 13th AHV pension. The delegates formulated the no slogan with 290 to 3 votes. SVP parliamentarians had previously pointed out that the party rejected the 13th AHV pension, but more than half of its base voted for it. "We have heard and understood this message," said the Valais National Councillor Michael Graber. The yes vote of SVP members is a yes for the Swiss people, for those who made the country prosperous, safe, and free. The Fribourg National Councillor Nicolas Kolly explained that with the yes vote for the 13th AHV pension, the population did not say yes to further levies and renewed tax increases. Purchasing power has been decreasing for years. The federal government no longer needs money, Kolly said. But it must use it better. The Council of States member from the SP Pierre-Yves Maillard, who was invited as a supporter of the value-added tax increase, explained that he would prefer another financing option, for example, higher taxation of high incomes. The "moderate" increase of 0.4 percent is not pleasant, but it does not affect daily necessities, emphasized the President of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation. For the revised War Material Act, the delegates voted yes. This is a yes to the defense capability of Switzerland, said National Councillor Michael Götte (SG). He pointed out that today the Federal Council must decide on the export of arms materials at the time of a war. This means that if a country buys arms materials from Switzerland and a conflict breaks out years later, it may not pass on the material further. Switzerland has thus become unpredictable for its partners in Europe. And whoever is unpredictable cannot be bought. This endangers the arms industry, but an arms industry does not mean defense capability. For EVP National Councillor Marc Jost (BE), who represented the opposing position, a yes vote would undermine neutrality. Today, no export of war materials to states involved in a armed conflict may be authorized. With the revision, this exclusion criterion will disappear for 25 states and under certain conditions, deliveries to belligerent states are also possible, such as the USA. Due to their participation in the war in Iran, no new export of war materials to them is currently authorized. Finally, the delegates also supported the popular initiative "Yes to fair federal taxes for married couples" of the Centre Party with 274 yes votes and 9 no votes and 3 abstentions. Here, for example, the argument that this "so-called fairness initiative" is the easier solution to abolish the marriage penalty than individual taxation, which the people have already approved.