(Swiss Info) A decade ago, a majority of Swiss voters backed a people’s initiative banning the building of minarets in the country. What has changed since?
The people’s initiative was accepted by 57.5% of Swiss voters, even though most politicians, church leaders and Islamic organisations inside and outside Switzerland were against it.
Only the right-wing Swiss People’s Party and the Christian-conservative Federal Democratic Union backed the idea. For them, minarets were symbols of the religious and political rise of Islam.
The “yes” vote was a political sensation that nobody had anticipated.
A decade after the decision, the number of Muslims in Switzerland continues to grow, while the building of mosques — minus minarets — has continued in some cantons.
