“Depoliticization” of the SZKB: Bank council members should no longer have to pay mandate taxes to parties

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With 69 votes against 21, the canton council significantly announced on Wednesday an individual initiative aimed at ‘depoliticizing’ the banking council of the SZKB. With the request of the subdistrict council supervisory committee for the SZKB, the arrangement under which members of the bank council must pay part of their remuneration as a levy to the party for which they have been elected will no longer apply.

For future candidates for the bank council, the subdistrict council elections must be based even more than before on professional criteria and not on party membership. The individual initiative for a “contemporary electoral system for bank councilors of the SZKB” promises an increase in the quality and independence of candidates. Future members of the bank board must also be able to be impartial.

The mandates of bank councilors to the parties have so far been an important source of financing for parliamentary work. To compensate, contributions to the political groups must now be increased.

All factions now receive a basic allowance of 10,000 francs and 1,500 francs per parliamentary faction member per year from the state treasury. But this met resistance from the SVP and FDP. While the SVP expressed fundamental criticism of the ‘state financing of parties’, the FDP was concerned about the scale of the additional expenditure. The total number of contributions from the parliamentary groups should increase from 40,000 to 200,000 francs.

The increase in the resources of the parliamentary groups should have been laid down in the rules of procedure of the Canton Council (GOKR). But this has not happened yet. During the debate on Wednesday, Parliament decided by 62 votes to 27 to delete the new passage on group contributions from the GOKR.

Instead, faction contributions should be regulated in a resolution that falls exclusively under the jurisdiction of the canton council. The SVP reacted violently to this “Buebätrickli” out of “fear for the people”. The GOKR changes are subject to a referendum.

The partial revision of the rules of procedure of the canton council, approved by 52 votes against 38, contains only two innovations instead of three: it regulates the ability of parliament to act in extraordinary situations and allows the live broadcasting of canton council meetings possible on the internet.

Both are already known from the corona pandemic – and should now be enshrined in law. By 53 votes against 37, the canton council decided that livestreams should also be possible in normal times – in the interest of more transparency in Schwyz’s parliamentary operations. (SDA)

Source:Blick