Swiss voters rejected a proposal to cap the country’s population if it reaches 10 million by 2050 in a referendum on the 14th of June, Reuters reports.
The referendum results showed that older voters and city dwellers played a key role in preventing the far-right’s proposal from being implemented. The result has brought relief to both government leaders and business leaders. The proposal to cap the population was rejected by a 55% margin, with fears of isolation outweighing fears of excessive immigration.
The proposal by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) would have put an end to the free movement of workers between Switzerland and the European Union. The party sought to capitalize on concerns that an overpopulated population puts an additional burden on public services, fuels crime and raises rents. Despite losing the referendum, the SVP, the country’s largest party, has vowed to keep up the pressure on immigration.
Polls show that the population cap appeals more to younger voters. Voters over 65 were generally skeptical of the SVP proposal, with 60% of voters in this age group opposed to the cap.
The idea was most popular among Swiss people aged 35 to 49, with 51% in favor.
Among those aged 18 to 34, 48% were in favor.
Pollster Cloe Jans said that while there was broad support for the idea, the public did not want strict limits written into the law. She added that in the current geopolitical situation, people were not keen on experiments and did not want to burn any bridges unnecessarily.
Businessmen, the government and parliament have opposed the population cap, warning that it could make it harder to access the EU labour market, which is a crucial source of labour for Swiss companies.
The latest figures on the referendum results show that the initiative was clearly rejected by residents of the country’s large cities – Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne and Bern – while the Swiss from conservative rural cantons in the central part of the country expressed the greatest support.
The SVP initiative stipulated that the population of Switzerland should not exceed 10 million people by 2050, and that once the country’s population reached 9.5 million, the government should introduce stricter immigration rules. Currently, Switzerland has 9.1 million inhabitants.
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