Mandatory service for women before the end

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If one measured enthusiasm for conscription by the number of signatures for the Service Citizens Initiative, enthusiasm would be limited. In the first six months after launch, barely 10,000 signatures were collected until October 2022, one tenth of the required signatures. “Two months ago I would have said we almost lost,” said Noémie Roten, 34, campaign manager for the Service Citizens initiative.

According to Roten, the reason for the weak start is not the subject of the initiative, the subject is also popular among young women, especially in western Switzerland. Numerous surveys also show that the population agrees that conscription should also apply to women. “We are a small club. After six months of collecting, I had to realize that, despite a lot of passion, unfortunately nothing works without money,” Roten tells Blick. The voluntary signature collectors made little progress, further help should be rewarded.

Campaign professionalized

The campaign manager is also a bit disappointed with the support of certain partners. Service Citoyen has an alliance with the Green Liberals, the EVP, the Pirate Party and various young parties, among others. The impartial move is somewhat sobering.

After collecting signatures for 12 months, we now have 45,000 signatures and the pace of collection has increased significantly over the past two months. According to Roten the result of a professionalization of the campaign. Service Citizens now pays an outside company for a portion of the signature collection. The campaign team has been reorganized internally.

Is there enough time?

It is calculated: with 30,000 signatures in two months, the missing 55,000 signatures could just come together by October. “Whether we can do it depends on the mobilization and the financial support,” said Roten, who now works full-time for the club.

Source:Blick