No-Billag initiative to go before the people
The initiative «Yes to the Abolition of Radio and Television Licenses» is expected to go to a national vote. It was submitted to the Federal Chancellery on Friday with 104,053 certified signatures.
Since the narrow vote on the revised Radio and Television Act (RTVA) in June, discussions about the programming and costs of Swiss television have not ceased. The most vocal opponent, the Swiss Trade Association, recently called once again for a broad public discussion about the content and scope of the public service.
With the "No Billag Initiative" the SRG will now come under even greater pressure. According to the initiators, the federal government should not be allowed to operate its own radio and television stations in peacetime, nor should it be allowed to subsidize them. Instead, licenses are regularly auctioned off to private companies. The petition for a referendum is backed by representatives of the Young SVP and the Young Free Democrats.
No anti-SRG initiative
According to the initiators, the initiative is not directed against SRG, but only against the obligation to pay fees. The company should continue to exist and be able to broadcast programs. However, SRG would have to finance itself in the future - "just like any other company." In order to guarantee media freedom, the state should not finance any media, he said. The fact that the SRG receives billions in annual contributions from the state makes it "dependent on the whims of the Federal Council, which sets the level of fees," it continues.
The initiative must be implemented by the beginning of 2018. Should the vote take place later, the initiative would have to be implemented at the beginning of the following year.
In addition to representatives of the Junge SVP and the Jungfreisinnigen, the committee includes SVP National Councillors Lukas Reimann (SG) and Sebastian Frehner (BS) and Daniel Trappitsch, who has become known for his fight against the animal epidemic law and the epidemic law.
This is already the second popular initiative calling for the abolition of reception fees. However, the initiative "Radio and television - without Billag" did not come to fruition in May. The organization Solidarische Schweiz (SOS) collected only about 9500 signatures. (SDA)
