The government does not want to dance to the whistle of the pushy “Stop F-35” initiators. She prefers to focus on the basics of the rule of law and direct democracy.
Defense Minister Viola Amherd does not want to be put in a bad position by the army opponents.
Should someone else say that the mills in Bundesbern grind slowly. No sooner had the initiators submitted the signature forms for the “Stop F-35” initiative than they had already been checked. It only took three and a half working days: the request is now at the top of the list of popular initiatives that have come about. But what good is the template?
VBS boss Amherd has until the end of March 2023 to seal the contract already signed by the Americans and to get the purchase of 36 F-35 fighter jets dry. Until then, a vote against this project would still be possible, at least in theory. The initiators wanted to get Amherd moving and presented her with the express timetable up to the voting date on March 12, 2023. Accordingly, the Minister of Defense should have presented the corresponding message on Wednesday. But she hasn’t.
Only in the winter in Parliament
The DDPS will prepare the message “as soon as possible” and submit it to the Federal Council, the government announced after the Federal Council meeting on Wednesday. The message would then probably not be submitted to Parliament until the winter session – too late for a vote in the following March. With that, Amherd and the Federal Council are declaring the freshly certified initiative to be clinically dead. But how do you explain that to the initiators?
Hardly any other business in federal Bern is as tricky and controversial as the procurement of the new fighter jets. Sometimes they were too loud, sometimes too combative, too American or too expensive. To this day, opponents emphasize how close the fundamental decision was.
Two years ago, on September 27, 2020, in the midst of the deprivation of the Corona crisis, 8,670 votes made the lead in favor of the financial volume of six billion francs for the procurement of a new combat aircraft. According to the direct-democratic rules of the game, 8669 votes are more than necessary to replace the aging F/A-18.
And this is exactly where the problem lies: Because they don’t like the type of aircraft, the army opponents want to use an initiative to bring down the democratically legitimized project. It is now the Federal Council’s turn to officially check the signatures. He already decided before the summer holidays that he wanted to procure the fighter planes.
The Federal Council does not want any prejudice
To convey the message that there is no message for the initiative text within a reasonable period of time, the Federal Council chooses official language rather than political language. The media release is also a bit of civics instruction for the pushy initiators. The Federal Council reminds you that a popular initiative has no legal effect.
102,664 certified signatures are not enough to overturn a decision that the population, the Federal Council and, with the Council of States, half of Parliament had already approved. One would create a precedent and lend a hand to a “non-functional use of the instrument of the popular initiative as a de facto financial referendum,” it said.
“This would have far-reaching consequences for current and future business of the Federal Council and contradicts the interests of the Confederation to act politically and legally correctly.” Direct democracy and the rule of law not only live on pros and cons, but must be formally organized – the Federal Council’s F-35 communication as a refreshing reflection on the basics in these murky times of uncertainty.
There are also practical reasons for the DDPS’s action being supported by the government. On the one hand, the government warns of security policy consequences if the procurement of fighter jets is delayed as a result of the initiative. The waiting list for the F-35 has grown since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. If Switzerland had to close the time window offered by the Americans again, they would have to queue again. And the future of the Luftwaffe would be uncertain. “From 2030, the population would no longer be protected from threats and dangers from the air,” warns the Federal Council.
On the other hand, they want to prevent a collision in parliament and in the administration between the current arms deal and the initiative submitted later. The Federal Council cannot comment on the initiative with only assumptions and conjectures. The message on the “Stop F-35” proposal cannot be drafted with the necessary seriousness and care as long as it is not known whether the National Council will even agree to the procurement loans in the autumn session.
This should probably be ready by September 15th. If the National Council also agrees to the army embassy this Thursday morning, Amherd can, indeed must, sign the contracts. Parliament had written a corresponding order in the embassy to make life easier for Amherd.
Schlatter accuses Amherd of breaking his word
This is where the initiators come in again. They are calling on Parliament to remove this deadline from the army message. They describe the action of the Federal Council as a “cowardly evasive maneuver”. The fact that the population can no longer comment on the purchase of the F-35 is an “affront” to the more than 100,000 signatures, Green National Councilor Marionna Schlatter was quoted as saying on Wednesday evening. She also accuses the VBS boss of breaking his word.
When the army message was passed, a few days before the start of the war in Ukraine, Amherd had actually assured that she wanted to wait and see the initiative. A few days later she called on the initiators to withdraw the bill. On the fringes of the summer session, she was convinced: “We will sign the fighter jet contract after the National Council has given its yes.” Nothing has changed since this Federal Council meeting. And after all the back and forth, things could suddenly go quickly with the F-35.