Swiss votes on September 22: pension reform looks unlikely

With less than two weeks to go, most Swiss voters look set to reject a referendum on reforming occupational pensions, according to the second and final poll. The other issue at stake, the biodiversity initiative, is also heading for failure, despite support from the Swiss Abroad. The occupational pension reform could well be rejected at the ballot box on September 22, according to the second poll carried out by the gfs.bern research institute on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company. It found that 51% of the electorate is now opposed to the government and parliament plan to consolidate the second pillar of the Swiss pension system. Support for its opponents has risen by 12 percentage points in the space of a month; 42% of those polled still approve of the reform, while 7% are undecided. The pattern is virtually the same for the Swiss Abroad. Political orientation and confidence in the government appear to be the most decisive factors ...