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It was one of the nastiest voting battles in recent Swiss history. In November 2020, Switzerland voted on the Corporate Responsibility Initiative (Kovi). The electorate said yes by a small margin, but because too few cantons agreed, the initiators still lost.
Now, three years later, the voting campaign is making waves again. The Audit Committee of the National Council (GPK) investigated the authorities’ communications during voting battles and criticized the then Minister of Justice Karin Keller-Sutter (59). The department’s communications during the Kovi vote were more focused on rejecting the initiative than informing voters, the report said.
Limit to campaign
A special communication concept was developed for the vote. This shows “that the department head’s communications were designed to complement the impartial campaign to achieve a change of opinion among the target group.”
The expert group – which carried out the research on behalf of the GPK – also noted that an internal departmental working group on the initiative discussed “which cantons should still be covered”. Apparently the plan was also to build a network with politicians and the business community.
The GPK could not check whether the plans were actually implemented. However, in the opinion of the expert group, the intended method of communication crossed the line between information and campaign.
Clear rules are needed
In its statement on the report, the Justice Department wrote that Keller-Sutter had to represent Parliament’s negative position before the vote. In principle, authorities must provide complete, factual, transparent and proportionate information before voting. The Federal Chancellery – which is responsible for communicating the report – has been contacted.
The GPK says that in most cases the principle of proportionality is observed in communications with authorities. However, she finds it problematic that the information mandate is “interpreted extensively” in individual cases.
The GPK therefore recommends specifying more precisely how far the Federal Councils and their departments may go in the voting battle. In addition, the distribution of powers for public statements or messages on social media should be regulated and it should be determined which authority communicates about which aspect.
In total, the GPK formulated four recommendations for the Federal Council in its report. He has until mid-February to comment on this. (brother/SDA)
Source:Blick
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