Council of States says no again: no money for asylum container villages

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The National Council took a step to the Council of States and wanted to approve only CHF 66.45 million for asylum container villages instead of the original approximately CHF 133 million.

The Council of States has now swept the compromise off the table by 25 votes to 18. The minority motion of the Central Council of States Beni Würth (55, SG) has thus gained the upper hand. There is therefore no money for asylum containers for the time being.

FDP Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (59) previously argued for the compromise. Both variants have risks. “It may be that the accommodation capacity will not be sufficient if the number is halved in the autumn,” said the federal councilor. “But it is also possible that the extra capacities are not fully needed.” The compromise proposal therefore offers “certainly a good middle ground”. But she couldn’t get through that.

Lower amount prevails

The company now goes back to the National Council. But if the two councils fail to agree on a loan, an agreement conference is needed.

In this case, however, the Council of States would have more influence: if a Council rejects the proposal of the unification conference in the case of budget proposals, the resolution that provides for less expenditure applies. So the lowest amount wins. So 0 francs if the Council of States stays on track.

Criticism from the National Council followed: “The Council of States decided today to prevent forward-looking planning for the reception of refugees”, SP co-chairman Cédric Wermuth (37) tweeted. FDP, SVP and Mitte wanted to provoke chaos in asylum policy in order to put politics on the shoulders of the weakest. “That’s disgusting.”

Source:Blick