Switzerland" "
With 1,026,514 “yes” and 1,003,494 “no” the Swiss electors have given their assent to the reform of the law on work. The result was very close; indeed it hung in the balance until the counting of votes in Canton Zurich had been completed. Up to that point the “no” votes had actually enjoyed the advantage. The bill, on which electors has been called to cast their vote in a referendum on 27 November, aimed to “eliminate any restriction on the sale of merchandise” including the Sunday opening of shopping centres in railway stations, motorway service stations and airports. The Swiss bishops had opposed the bill in their document “Sunday must not become a weekday”. “The victory of the “yes” vote commented the spokesman of the Swiss bishops, Mario Galgano, in a statement carried by the APIC press agency undermines the fundamental spirit and principle of the ban on Sunday work”. Despite the unfavourable outcome of the vote, the Swiss Church underlined “the strong advance of the ‘no’ front among the population of the country: a ‘no’ vote that the opinion polls in recent weeks had predicted would lose by a wide margin”. Disappointment has also been expressed by the Ecumenical Committee, which together with the Swiss bishops had supported the ‘no’ campaign. Nonetheless the success by a very narrow margin of those favourable to the Sunday opening of shops comments the Committee “must prompt reflection about the continuation of the law”. On the same day, 27 November, the Swiss, in another referendum, approved, this time by a large majority (55.7%), the five-year moratorium on the use of GMOs in agriculture.
