Switzerland votes to ban the burqa in public spaces

"Stop extremism!"

can we read on the campaign poster for the national ban on wearing the burqa.

REUTERS - Arnd Wiegmann

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For or against the right to wear the full veil in public spaces?

This is the question that was put to referendum this Sunday in Switzerland.

The initiative goes to the Swiss nationalist right, but this time, the text seduced well beyond its electoral base: 51.21% of Swiss and a majority of cantons voted in favor of the ban on hiding the face, according to official results.

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A signal against radical Islam according to its supporters, a xenophobic and sexist initiative for others.

The text, initially proposed by the right-wing populist party UDC, was supported by feminists and part of the voters of the secular left.

“ 

We are delighted.

We do not want there to be radical Islam in our country, 

”said SVP Switzerland President Marco Chiesa on the Blick.tv channel.

The text does not refer to the burqa - a large piece of fabric that covers from head to toe and fitted with a mesh slit at eye level - or the niqab, which completely covers the body and face with the exception of the eyes, but the campaign posters left no doubt about the purpose of the referendum.

By voting against the wearing of the full veil in the public sphere, Switzerland joins France, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium and Denmark, after years of debate.

It will therefore now be prohibited to completely cover the face in public - which also applies to hooded demonstrators - but exceptions are provided for places of worship, for example.

(With AFP)

► To read also: Switzerland: vote of high controversial value this Sunday on the ban on wearing the burqa

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