Swiss Review 3/2019

Swiss Review / May 2019 / No.3 4 Mailbag Pressure on voting rights for Swiss Abroad I always vote, it gives me a feeling of belonging. I am happy not to be a “citizen of nowhere”, especially considering what happened in the Brexit referen- dum. Certainly, it is always good for outsiders tokeep their counsel. But I don’t viewmyself as an outsider. Life (outside Switzerland for the last 30years) has expanded myhorizons. Surely this is a good thing, particularly at a time when nationalism and xenophobia are rearing their ugly head around the world. Indeed, maybe the UK would have avoided this debacle in the first place had all those British citizens who live abroad been able to vote. DANIELA VAN DER HEIJDEN, FOREST ROW, UK We have been living in Canada for almost 25 years. In all this time, we have never made use of our voting rights in Switzerland. I would have no problem at all if Swiss expa- triates were no longer entitled to vote. What gives me the right to tell people living in Switzerlandwhat they should and shouldn’t do? DANIEL SCHWIZER AND FAMILY, DIDSBURY, ALBERTA, CANADA I think it is great that I can vote while living abroad. Be- cause I am retired, I have plenty of time to view what is happening in Switzerland from afar. I am sure the same applies to others. Retirees like me also want to vote on is- sues such as school reformbecause it is our grandchildren who will be affected. We might be old, but we still have a lot of life experience. MARKUS KÜNG, SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Swiss ‘dual citizens’ should not be able to vote when they live somewhere and vote in that new country if they have became naturalised. I have been inAustralia since 1970 and this is my permanent home, hence I believe I have no right to tell Swiss people how to live their lives. THERESE SALADIN-DAVIES, EMU PLAINS, AUSTRALIA Some popular votes certainly affect me as a Swiss living abroad, and I would feel like a second-class citizen if I was no longer entitled to vote. We, the Swiss, are always keen to extol our country’s democratic credentials –which is all the more reason for us to avoid introducing two classes of Consular services anywhere, conveniently on your mobile devices Cappadocia (2019) www.fdfa.admin.ch Swiss Quality Language Summer Camps for 8-17 year olds Learn English, French, German or Italian in multilingual Switzerland With top destinations also in Germany, France & England We provide excellence in language teaching with an enriching extracurricular programme of exciting activities to provide students an experience of a lifetime! Call us on +41 (0) 21 621 88 88 www.alpadia.com 6111