Swiss canton of Zug votes for more political transparency

Voters in the central canton have accepted a slimmed-down proposal to inscribe principles for political transparency and party financing into its constitution. Some 52% of citizens in the small Swiss region approved a counter-proposal made by government and parliament to an idea put forward by the “Young Alternative” party. The original initiative, which went further in its demands, was rejected by 54.4%. Zug already voted on the issue on June 9, but the ballot was declared invalid due to problems with the count. The canton’s government and parliament reckoned the initiative’s concerns could not be regulated at constitutional level. Their slimmed-down counter-proposal will thus enshrine the principles of the initiative in the constitution with regard to financing and binding interests, while the specific details – such as financial thresholds for declaring donations – will be laid down in law. + Read more about political transparency rules in Switzerland The original constitutional ...