Anti-crime hardliners retain edge, poll finds

Common room of a pre-deportation detention centre at Zurich airport Keystone

Supporters of a rightwing initiative to automatically deport foreign criminals appear to have the upper hand less than two weeks ahead of a nationwide vote on November 28.

An opinion poll commissioned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation – swissinfo.ch’s parent company – found 54 per cent of respondents coming out in favour of the People’s Party initiative, while 43 per cent said they would vote against it.

Support appears to have dropped slightly compared with a similar poll in October, notably among followers of centre-right parties.

A counter-proposal by parliament remains short of a majority, according to the leading gfs.bern research and polling institute.

A massive mobilisation of voters in the last few days ahead of the ballot would boost further the chances of the initiative, according to the head of the institute, Claude Longchamp.

Meanwhile, a proposal by the centre-left Social Democratic Party to standardise taxes on income and wealth for the rich throughout the 26 cantons is losing ground.

The margin between potential supporters and opponents shrank to seven per cent from 35 per cent last month. The business community and centre-right parties have mounted a massive publicity campaign in the past few weeks.

The survey was carried out among 1,207 citizens across the country in the first half of November.