Young Freisinnige lose interest in the No Billag initiative
There is disagreement in the No Billag initiators' camp - the Young Radicals feel that the style of the campaign is too strongly influenced by the Young SVP.
As Andri Silberschmidt, President of the Junge Freisinningen, explained to Schweiz am Wochenende, they are having a hard time with their fellow campaigners internally: "I don't always like the style of the No Billag campaign." It's "often too aggressive, too hackneyed, too strongly influenced by the Young SVP".
Within the Young Liberals, who were at the forefront of collecting signatures for the initiative, opinions differed on the structure of the public media service, says Silberschmidt. Although there was agreement that the status quo needed to be changed and that private media should be given more space, not everyone in the party wanted to abolish the Billag fees.
He himself lacks a counter-proposal that would, for example, aim to halve the fees. This is pretty much what SVP circles around Gregor Rutz and Natalie Rickli are planning if the initiative is rejected, as Schweiz am Wochenende reported last week (Werbewoche.ch reported). The aim should be a "minimum public service", which is to be ensured by an amount of plus/minus 200 francs per year and household. (hae)
