Government at odds over National Day

Flag throwers provided the colour at last year's Rütli celebrations Keystone

Plans to mark Swiss National Day with official speeches on the Rütli meadow, the place considered the birthplace of the confederation, are in disarray.

On Thursday, this year’s president, Micheline Calmy-Rey, said she would still go to the Rütli on August 1 even though plans to hold an official event there have been cancelled.

The Rütli commission called off the official celebrations saying too many obstacles stood in the way of organising the event on the meadow, located on the shores of Lake Lucerne.

Originally planned was a traditional show with speeches by Calmy-Rey and speaker of the House of Representatives, Christine Egerszegi.

Commission members said they were “ashamed” that the central Swiss cantons bordering the lake were refusing to allow any boats to depart from their landing stages for the historic spot, which is only accessible by water.

These cantons have said they do not want to foot the entire bill – estimated at SFr2 million ($1.63 million) – for the additional security required to control rightwing extremists, who travelled en masse to the Rütli in years past and interrupted National Day speeches.

A request by the cantons for the federal authorities to chip in SFr200,000 was rejected.

Justice Minister Christoph Blocher, who represents the rightwing Swiss People’s Party in the cabinet, defended the decision, saying it was not the government’s job to fund such an event just because high-ranking officials want to go there to celebrate.

But Calmy-Rey said she would go anyway. A spokesman for the president – from the centre-left Social Democrats – said she did not yet know what shape or form her Rütli attendance would take.

Even though the Rütli is considered the cradle of Switzerland since it is where the founding fathers are believed to have sworn an oath of allegiance in 1291, it is relatively recent that the spot has been used by the government to mark National Day.

Iconic

And historians say it only became an icon with unifying power in the second half of the 19th century following conflicts such as the “Sonderbund” war when the confederate army defeated forces of an alliance of Catholic and conservative cantons.

It finally became a key symbol when August 1 was named National Day in 1891, and took on sacral proportions in 1940 during a speech there by Switzerland’s top general expressing Switzerland’s right to independence and self-defence.

Political scientists say all sides of the political spectrum are now doing battle over ideological ownership of the symbol in what is an election year.

Speaking in the newspaper, Aargauer Zeitung, sociologist Kurt Imhof said the People’s Party had been able to stake a claim to the symbol, to which it represents traditional Swiss values. But the left and centre are attempting to steal it away and use it as a platform to showcase Switzerland as a more liberal and forward-looking nation.

Imhof said the government, where five of the seven cabinet ministers belong to either centre-right or rightwing parties, would not have refused to support the event if it had been someone other than Calmy-Rey planning to make a speech.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

In 1859, an association of concerned Swiss citizens purchased the meadow.
Their objective was to keep it in its original state.
One year later, the association donated it to the Swiss government.
The government charged a special commission with the task of administering the site.

Historic oath

In the 13th century, leaders of the three forest cantons, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, met here in secret.

They swore an oath of allegiance, considered Switzerland’s founding act, in 1291.

There is no evidence that William Tell took part in these meetings, but according to legend, his heroic deeds inspired these men to take action.