* on the Wed, Dec 05, 2007 at 08:49:43AM +0100, Tonnerre LOMBARD wrote:

I want you to be aware of the fact that there is a certain risk involved with the referendum.

[...]

if the current law is abolished through a referendum, it will have to recurr immediately, because the law was not created out of hot air but as a response to an international treaty which Switzerland ratified. However, chances are that next time, we will not be able to maintain the provisions which got into the law this time, so after a referendum, in my estimation, we will end up with a law which is way worse than it is right now.

I fully disagree. Making us fear "the next law will be way worse" just doesn't apply. If the Swiss people say "no" to this law, how would they ever say "yes" to a law wich is even worse? No way.

About international treaties: Thank god the Swiss people have the last word here, too. The government signs a treaty, and the people vote against it? Cancelled! That's why we got to vote about joining the EEA (EEE/EWR), Schengen, the EU, the UN, etc. That's why we got to vote over treaties like the Bilateral Agreements I and II, donating one billion to Eastern Europe, etc. The government would have liked to sign all these treaties, but the people said "yes" to some and "no" to others. That's why often in these treaties I guess the Swiss government puts a phrase like "it will enter into action except if the Swiss people vote against it".

Peter