Swiss reject referendum on biodiversity and one on pension reform

Geneva [Switzerland], September 23: Swiss voters rejected two referendums on Sunday - one on an expansion of nature conservation and the other on a partial pension reform - according to projections by the Swiss institute gfs.bern, which was commissioned by Swiss television.
The figures showed 63 percent of citizens voting against a proposal aimed to require the federal government and cantons to better protect biodiversity, the landscape, and the country's cultural heritage.
More areas and funds were to be made available for the preservation of biodiversity under the plan.
Those who voted did not consider the problem of biodiversity to be urgent, said Lukas Golder from the research institute gfs.bern on Swiss television SRF.
The opponents of the initiative had argued that the proposal would significantly restrict food production, as 30 percent of the country's area would be practically untouchable. They also believed that renewable energy production would have been adversely affected.
The Swiss also rejected a partial pension reform with 69 percent against the so-called second pillar of old-age security being restructured, the projection showed.
The reform was intended to stabilize the financial aspects of old-age security in the face growing number of retirees, increased life expectancies, and falling returns.
The second pillar involves a personal retirement account into which employees and employers contribute. The government wanted to reduce the minimum percentage of the amount that must be paid out annually to make the funds last longer.
An expert described it as a "severe defeat for the authorities" on Swiss radio SRF. There had been criticism and mistrust about whether the problems with the financing of the second pillar were really real. "There was no common awareness of the problem," he said.
Source: Qatar Tribune