Swiss Review 2/2019

Swiss Review / March 2019 / No.2 19 Corehendi beaqui est rehe nissim et peror aboria nonsequia quas exeri doluptati qui debis magnim es- tioreru ship to that country apart from citi- zenship. This problem is especially prevalent in Switzerland because Swiss expatriates usually always maintain full voting rights. It would therefore be appropriate to discuss how long Swiss citizenship can be conferred on following generations of Swiss Abroad.” As one of the study authors empha- sised when talking to various media outlets, this should not mean that Swiss expatriates would have their citizenship revoked. However, the feeling is that a discussion should be held regarding the right to vote and stand for election. Voting rights are appropriate for first-generation Swiss living abroad. By the third generation at the latest, however, there “is hardly any solid argument for ensuring the right to vote and stand for election”. In extreme cases, this population group could even decide a referendum in ent classes of citizens.” Furthermore, a large number of ballot proposals are also relevant for Swiss expatriates, re- gardless of the length of their stay abroad, e.g. occupational benefit is- sues, international conventions, and relationships with the EU. Finally, she comments that the majority of the 752,000 Swiss Abroad live in a Euro- pean country – more than 482,000 of them – and many return to Switzer- land regularly. In addition, the outside perspective of the Swiss living abroad is an asset for Switzerland, comments Rustichelli. Switzerland is not alone in its stance on voting rights. On the con- trary, a report on this topic by the Federal Council in 2016 indicated that the majority of European states “do not have specific criteria for safe- guarding political rights for citizens living abroad”. In other words, the same criteria apply as for voters at home. However, Germany, Sweden and the UK make their expatriates’ right to vote conditional on addi- tional criteria. In Sweden, expatriates are given voting rights only if they had a residence in their native coun- try at some point. In the UK, citizens living abroad must have been regis- tered as a voter in their home constit- uency in the UK within the past 15 years. As for Germany, it requires expatriates to complete a minimum three-month stay in Germany after they reach 14 years of age, andwithin the past 25 years. on the other hand, is critical of the privileges of dual citizens and feels they should decide where and how they will exercise their right to vote. “This applies to Swiss with dual citi- zenship who have residence here but also to Swiss expatriates with two passports. They should also only have one right to vote,” argued Keller dur- ing an interpellation last year. The question of dual citizenship is also being considered by the Fed- eral Commission onMigration (FCM), which pointed out in a study from December 2018 that almost exactly three-quarters of Swiss citizens liv- ing abroad also possess a second citizenship. “From a democratic-po- litical perspective, it appears particu- larly problematic that recognition of dual citizenship leads to growing numbers of people who are formally citizens of a country yet have no other or hardly any other relation- Switzerlandwithout ever having lived in the country. Director of OSA defends rights OSA director Ariane Rustichelli vehe- mently rejects any restriction of polit- ical rights. In her opinion, time limits would strip a segment of the Swiss population of their rights. “In effect, this would be equal to creating differ- Ariane Rustichelli, ASO director, counters that any restriction on political rights would lead “to the creation of different classes of citizens”. Photo: ASO Andrea Caroni, FDP member of the Council of States (AR), criticises the fact that people who have never lived in Switzerland can vote and stand for election while completely integrated foreigners in Switzerland have hardly any voting rights. Photo: Keystone Peter Keller, SVP National Councillor (NW), argues that Swiss citizens with dual citizenship “should only have one vote” regardless of whether they live in Switzerland or abroad. Photo: Keystone