Minarets could be banned this weekend as Swiss voters go to the polls for a controversial referendum.
The Right-wing Swiss People’s Party argues that the distinctive mosque features are a symbol of Islamic intolerance.
The party has led an emotive campaign to outlaw them. Posters depicting a woman in a burkha in front of minarets shaped like missiles, against the background of a Swiss flag, have been put up around the country.
Ulrich Schüler, an SVP parliamentarian and leading member of the anti-minaret movement, says the towers are political rather than religious.
‘They are symbols of a desire for power, of an Islam which wants to establish a legal and social order fundamentally contrary to the liberties guaranteed in our constitution,’ he said.
In 2007 elections his party won its largest ever share of the vote after mounting an anti-foreigner campaign denounced by the United Nations as racist.
One of its campaign posters showed a flock of white sheep kicking a black sheep out of Switzerland.
The debate is particularly sensitive in a country with a large immigrant population and where 20 per cent are considered foreign.
About 400,000 – 5 per cent – of Swiss residents are Muslims.
If the majority of the electorate and states vote Yes on Sunday, the words ‘The construction of minarets is forbidden’ will be added to the country’s constitution.
Existing minarets will not be torn down.
The vote was triggered when almost 115,000 signed a people’s initiative handed to parliament last year in favour of the ban – 100,000 is enough to force a referendum.
And according to the latest opinion poll, support for the proposal is gaining momentum.
It is popular among residents of rural areas and towns in the German-speaking part of the country, a survey of 1,200 citizens showed earlier this month.
German is the most common language in Switzerland.
The latest figures show that 37 per cent would vote in favour of the ban, while 53 per cent said they would reject it. A further 10 per cent were undecided.
Both the cabinet and parliament are recommending voters turn down the initiative, with Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey describing it as ‘dangerous for foreign policy and Switzerland’s relations to other countries’.
Controversies have erupted in Switzerland over Muslims’ place in society in recent years. In 2004 two supermarket chains banned employees who deal with the public from wearing headscarves.
There are an estimated 160 mosques and cultural centres in Switzerland, but only four with a minaret.
They are normally used by religious leaders to call Muslims to prayer.
Loading ...
