Voters resoundingly defeat proposal to slash spending
Published:
28 November 2000 y., Tuesday
Swiss voters pledged resounding support to their citizen army on Sunday, throwing out a left-of-center attempt to slash military spending in the neutral Alpine nation.
Some 1.1 million voters, or 62 percent, rejected the proposal to cut military spending and use the funds for social programs. Only 722,797 people, or nearly 38 percent, voted in favor.
Barbara Haering, a Socialist member of Parliament and president of the group that proposed the military cut, said she was disappointed by the result but claimed the initiative “had raised public awareness” about the cost of the military. The Swiss have long prided themselves on their army, which requires part-time service from each Swiss man, but left-wing and humanitarian critics say too much is spent on the military.
The Socialist Party maintains that the end of the Cold War eliminated the need for large-scale forces with fighter planes, tanks and artillery. Its proposal would have cut about $1 billion from the annual defense budget, putting it at $1.74 billion by 2010.
Šaltinis:
AP
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The twentieth anniversary of the Baltic Way was commemorated in Tokyo.
more »
After an emotional funeral service in Boston and a 90-minute flight from Massachusetts, the flag-draped casket holding Edward Kennedy arrived by motorcade in Washington, D.C. for a final visit to the U.S. Capitol Building, the political home for the senior Senator of Massachusetts for almost half a century.
more »
Mike Perham has become the youngest person to sail single handedly round the world. It's also the dream of another teenager in the Netherlands.
more »
Whenever its member countries are hit by natural disasters, the EU steps in to help coordinate assistance and fund the reconstruction of essential infrastructure.
more »
Inside this tiny house in central Cuba a woman rekindles old fashioned romance in a modern age. Liudmila Quincose writes love letters for a living.
more »
A traditional drum beat opens the 2009 World Karate Championships in Japan.
more »
Scientists are investigating the death of about 300 sea lions on the coast of Chile.
more »
Carmen Valverde and her dog Tomas were out for a walk in their Lima, Peru neighborhood when Tomas was snatched from her side.
more »
It was never going to be a quiet affair when Lance Armstrong put out an invitation on twitter for fans to join him on a bike ride around a Scottish town.
more »
About half of the British public feel there is a general negative bias in reporting on EU affairs on television, radio and in the written press, with written press reports seen as the most negative, according to a public opinion poll published by the European Commission today.
more »