The Swiss Parliament works digitally outside the Federal Palace
Parliament will meet again at Bernexpo from 2 to 19 June 2020 because the distance rules could not be observed in the parliament building. In order for the large chamber to be able to work outside the parliament building, various changes are required.
Not only the Swiss Parliament, but also the Rules of Procedure of the National Council, had to be adapted. The National Council approved these on Monday, 4 May, by 193 votes to 3: Proposals and motions will now only be submitted by mail.
Test was successful
The focus is on digital changes to voting. Since these cannot be carried out with the same equipment as in the National Council chamber, the provisions on voting must be adapted. Voting is done with a mobile personal box with various buttons. Lists of names are only drawn up afterwards, so the public can only see later who has voted and how. Only the result is published immediately.
A test of the voting system had been successful. "If the voting system were to fail, voting would be by standing up," said Edith Graf-Litscher (SP/TG) on behalf of the National Council office. Voting by roll call would take too long, around 30 minutes.
In addition, motions, parliamentary initiatives and proposals are now only submitted by e-mail. The distribution of paper is dispensed with as far as possible.
Not only the extraordinary session, but also the ordinary summer session in June will be held at the Bernexpo exhibition centre in Berne because of the Corona pandemic. As soon as the National Council is back in session in the Federal Palace, the revision of the Rules of Procedure will become obsolete. (Source: sda)
