The results are in and the biggest surprise is that the Gripen initiative was refused (by 53.4%) and the Swiss army now have to come up with an alternate solution to the Swedish planes. It had been foreseen that the army would have financed them with a yearly budget of 300 million francs for the next 15 years, besides what to do now to replace the aging planes the next discussion is now whether the Swiss army should continue to have a budget of nearly 5 billion francs or whether this should be reduced.
Although the country voted against this initiative (by 53%) the canton of Luzern (54.3%) had been in favour of it.
The minimum wage initiative was voted against by a majority of 76%. The conclusion being drawn is that the Swiss do not believe that wages should be decided by the state.
The pedophilia initiative also got voted through by a majority of 64%, this was a highly emotional issue and the result is no big surprise.
The clearest winner is the “house doctor” initiative which was voted through by an 88% majority, this calls for the state and cantons to implement projects to improve primary health care.
Locally the Retirement Home initiative was voted through by a majority of 61%, this means that as of January 2015, the retirement homes in and around Luzern will be privately run with the aim of improving their services.
What also was voted through was the fact that any share sales would first have to be put up to vote.
Finally the Student Stipend Initiative was also voted through by a majority of 70%. This means that the yearly budget available for students remains at 10.5 million francs with private loans rising from 1.3 million to 3.5 million francs. However instead of 2200 students a year being supported, it will now only be 1500, who will see their stipends going from CHF 5300.- to CHF 6700.- a year.
Another important local event which took place yesterday was the local football team’s victory against FC Thun 3:0 meaning that FC Luzern will now take part in the European League.
