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Popular initiatives that never make it to the ballot box but are still successful: this is becoming more and more common.
Colored flags, hikes and rallies – the initiators of the Popular initiative “For a healthy climate” (glacier initiative) have put in a lot of effort. After all this work, it is not easy for them to withdraw their popular initiative. But they have achieved a lot, probably more than would have been possible with the initiative.
Strong counter-proposal
Last week, parliament adopted a handy indirect counter-proposal that takes up many of the concerns of the glacier initiative. “We now have a really good law, and that’s the better option for us at the moment,” says co-initiator Marcel Hänggi to SRF.
The advantage is that the law can come into force more quickly, according to Hänggi. An initiative can only ever define a constitutional provision, which then has to be cast into law, which takes longer.
This is a political success for the initiators, despite the withdrawal. Because the goal of net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050, one of the main concerns of the initiative, is now also in the new law.
The initiative would have gone further and banned fossil fuels. That would hardly have been able to win a majority at the ballot box. The law contains concrete measures and funding in the billions to achieve the net zero goal. These are intended to replace old heaters and promote innovation.
Only every seventh initiative successful
So it turns out that the counter-proposal is an attractive option for the initiators because, in the best case, it not only includes many of their goals, but also comes into force more quickly. A popular initiative is always a means of putting a topic on the political agenda. Ideally, if parliament goes along with it, the initiators can save themselves an expensive vote with an uncertain outcome.
Because popular initiatives still have a hard time at the ballot box. Only one in seven has been successful in recent years. However, retreats have become more frequent, as in the case of the so-called glacier initiative. In the last two years alone, another five popular initiatives have been withdrawn because of a counter-proposal. These include the initiative to promote organ donations, the bill against arms exports to countries at war or those for paternity leave.
This is no coincidence. Since 2010 there has been the possibility of withdrawing initiatives conditionally. In concrete terms, this means that the initiative is valid until the counter-proposal is in force. If the counter-proposal still fails at the ballot box, the initiative committee can take its popular initiative out of the drawer again.
Vote on counter-proposal likely
The risk for the initiators is therefore limited. The glacier initiative was also withdrawn only to a limited extent. Because it is very likely that the counter-proposal will come before the people. The SVP has announced a referendum.
But co-initiator Marcel Hänggi is confident: “All the signs that geopolitics and the climate show: We have to get away from fossil fuels, we have to free ourselves from dependence on Putin’s Russia.”
The law enjoys broad political support and relies on incentives, in contrast to the failed CO₂ law, which included taxes. If the law still fails at the ballot box, the initiators can bring out their colored flags again and bring the glacier initiative to the ballot box after all.