Foreigners Unlikely to Stand in Swiss Cantonal Elections Over Migrant Crisis

Voters in the French-speaking Swiss canton of Neuchatel are unlikely to approve the proposal granting foreigners the right to be elected to the cantonal government amid concerns caused by the uncontrolled migration, a local lawmaker from the Socialist Party (PSN) who initiated the move told Sputnik on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, a civic committee in Neuchatel launched a campaign to rally support for allowing some foreigners stand in cantonal elections, ahead of a referendum on the issue scheduled for September 25.

"There is absolutely no doubt what the voters will say — they will say NO to this idea. This is not an open issue, the climate is very loaded with issues of migration," the deputy of the cantonal parliament, Anne Tissot Schulthess said.

According to Schulthess, the idea "to let long-established and well-known foreigners play a role on the political scene" was floated by her party three or four years ago and approved by a slight majority in the local parliament last summer.

But the public attitude toward the issue has significantly changed now amid recent terror acts committed by migrants in Europe, she added.

The proposal, supported by leftist parties, would apply to all foreigners in the canton of voting age who have a permanent residence permit, granted after five years of living in the country. If the public approves the move in a popular vote, Neuchatel may become the first Swiss canton to grant such political rights to foreigners.

In 2007, during a previous referendum on similar issues, Neuchatel citizens agreed to grant foreigners the right to stand in elections at a municipal level.

Some 45,000 foreigners live in the canton of Neuchatel, making up a quarter of its population.