It seems like a last-ditch act of desperation: Anyone who delivers at least three signatures to the Swiss Basic Income Association might not win Basic Income, but could win an impressive CHF 1,000.
The new basic income initiative was on the brink of collapse last month. Because: Collecting signatures for the “Living in Dignity – For a Fundable Unconditional Basic Income” initiative was resinous. Within a year, only 56,000 of the required 100,000 signatures had been collected.
Initiative committee fights on
No reason for the initiative committee to admit defeat. The match is “a great opportunity”, campaigner Raffael Wüthrich (36) says when asked. But you don’t rely on this alone to get the necessary 120,000 signatures with a margin of safety. Further measures would follow. In addition, the AHV and women’s suffrage in Switzerland would have needed several attempts.
The initiators demand that the federal government “guarantee an unconditional basic income for people settling in Switzerland”. In this way a “dignified existence in family and society, participation in public life and commitment to the common good” should be made possible.
There is no specific amount of the basic income in the initiative text. Parliament has to decide on this. If the initiative is accepted, it must be realized within five years, the initiators demand.
Basic income fails in Zurich
Even if the club collects enough signatures, the initiative at the ballot box should struggle. As a reminder, six years ago, Swiss voters scuttled the citizens’ initiative for an unconditional basic income with a whopping 77 percent of the no vote. Also in Zurich, which is controlled by the left-green party, a municipal popular initiative calling for a local pilot project for a basic income was rejected this year.
Wüthrich from Basic Income Switzerland is not deterred by this. His team has had “an incredible amount of energy and drive” for weeks now. We are confident that we will get the necessary number of signatures.