Tolerance

The majority of the Swiss Cantons voted in a referendum which was held in the country in favour of the prohibition of the construction of minarets in the country, reports Tribune de Geneve referring to the results of the exit polls. The Swiss television described the first data on the approval by the inhabitants of the country of the extreme right parties’ initiative as “big surprise”.

The results of surveys on the exit of the vote show that the German-speaking Canton Lucerne supported the referendum, while the French-speaking provinces Geneva and Vaud voted against it. According to the first data, 59% of the citizens expressed their support for the initiative, reports the portal Swissinfo.ch. According to the Swiss law, the referendum is adopted, if the majority of the cantons and the majority of the citizens vote for it.

The initiative to hold a referendum came from the extreme rightist Swiss People’s Party which occupies the majority of the seats in the parliament. Within a period of 18 month their representatives collected the 100.000 signatures which are necessary to put the issue to a referendum.

Supporters of the prohibition argue that the towers of mosque from which Muslims traditionally call their prayers are strangers to the Swiss culture and symbolize the “political-religious aspiration to power”. Swiss Muslims themselves note the rising Islamophobia.

According to BBC News, Switzerland is home to 400.000 Muslims, meanwhile, this number comes to only four minarets.