Zurich. Demonstrations are allowed to further slow down Zurich public transport.
Demonstrations in downtown Zurich may continue to obstruct tram and bus traffic (public transport): on Wednesday evening, the municipal council rejected a postulate by the SVP that demanded that “every single line can continue to function unhindered”.
The trigger for the SVP initiative was a climate demonstration in April of this year. Samuel Balsiger was annoyed that people would have had to get off the 2-seater tram because of such a “Gugus demonstration”. “These people all had plans.”
He therefore submitted a postulate that called on the city council to take action. In future, demonstrations, whether approved or not, should no longer impede public transport.
However, the SVP only received support from the FDP, which also voted together with the SVP only with a small change. The FDP suggested that the demand could be mitigated with “tram and bus traffic diversions”. The majority of the council opposed it. The postulate was rejected with 72 no to 39 yes.
Fundamental rights would be restricted
For security chief Karin Rykart from the Greens it was clear that the SVP demand could not be implemented anyway. “Basic rights could only be exercised to a limited extent,” she said.
The SVP does not want to let the topic rest: Balsiger announced that he would launch a corresponding popular initiative at cantonal level. If this were accepted by the people, the canton of Zurich would override the city. “Then the city still has to implement this requirement,” said Balsiger.
fn, sda