Switzerland for the uninitiated - Part II

The Swiss are neutral. Period. Neutrality has always been synonymous with Switzerland and vice-versa. The Swiss have famously proclaimed to be neutral, right since the conception of the federation. Remember, that the country itself was founded on basis for being a 'buffer' zone between powerful nations. And Switzerland has easily used the notion of neutrality to its  complete advantage.  This gives a lot of strength to the Swiss trade relations with Nazis (which was under fire during and after the WWs) and Swiss banking secrecy (which is under fire now). They never have been sucked easily into European politics (have not joined E.U.), neither did they take sides during the World Wars. India on the other hand, has tried to be neutral since independance. It started the Non-Aligned Movement during the cold war (which Switzerland, surprisingly did not join). Even today, India is trying hard to maintain good relations with both Russia and other communist countries, while following the capitalist policies of the West.

Switzerland being a landlocked country, and being in the centre of Europe, makes it difficult to remain isolated when it comes to foreign policy. But the Swiss have always thought about joining the E.U. as an infringement upon their sovereignty: something that they take too much pride in. You see, Switzerland follows the famous concept of direct democracy. Even in this concept of democracy, they elect leaders and send them to the parliament. But laws passed by them, can easily be challenged by anyone in Switzerland. All he/she has to do is get signatures of 10,000 people who oppose the bill, and this calls for a referendum. Referendum is a direct vote by common public on these laws, where the common man gets to decide on rather important policies. It is very common to have 7-8 referendums each year. Some of the famous referendums include the recent successful ban of construction of minarets and opposition to join the EU. Apparently it is compulsory for the parliament to call for referendums when it takes decisions on foreign policies. The process of counting votes in referendums is done on two levels. One on the total majority and another on cantonal level. If more than 1/3 rd of all cantons have majority of people opposing the bill, then it cannot be passed. This gives a lot of power to the small cantons and causes unimaginable delays in framing policies. And many Swiss are realising and opposing this increasing bureaucracy. They can probably take some tips from Indians : the crib gawds, who crib and crib but never do anything to change it!

I guess we Indians think that referendums defeat the notion of democracy, where you put all your faith/vote idiotically on one elected leader. But the Swiss were sensible enough not to allow politicians to fool them. The politicians in Switzerland do not get paid by the government. They all work part-time in companies for their livelihood. Doing government work is like a hobby for them. Imagine what our politicians will do if we ask them to follow this. Frankly, I cannot imagine anyone in the Indian politics today, who might work for free:  except Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram. Tharoor might say yes to the same, on the condition that we have to pay him for reading his tweets !

All jokes apart, I guess there still are lessons that we can learn about democracy. Moving on, one of the most striking features of the Swiss, is their etiquette. I have been told from "highly placed sources'', that the Swiss are the sweetest of all the europeans. Every day, you are always greeted with a ''Bonjour!" by  total strangers on the street, in your building, or anywhere else. They stop their huge Mercedes and BMW's for every kutty pedestrian trying to cross the road. Not to mention the constant ''Merci" they always receive back. They even go to the extent of waiting and keeping the swinging doors open when they see someone coming, from far. To say the least, I am totally flattered :)