━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
  Multi Lingual Internet Mail Magazine

  jp-Swiss-journal  Vol. 143 – April 13, 2013 (Swiss Time)

   http://www.swissjapanwatcher.ch/
■━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━■

 

 

目次 / INDEX / INHALTSVERZEICHNIS

 

 J

国民投票201333日結果と

「反高額報酬」国民発議の展開

明子 ヒューリマン

 

 

E

The National Voting on March 3, 2013:

Results and further development about

people's initiative "Against Rip-off"

Akiko Huerlimann

 

 

□━━━━━━━━━━━━━【 日本語 】━━━━━━━━━━━━

 

 

      国民投票201333日結果と

     「反高額報酬」国民発議の展開

 

     明子 ヒューリマン

 

 

33日の国民投票の背景は弊誌<Vol. 142 - March 01, 2013>を参照して

頂くとして、結果 *1)について考えてみた。「家族政策」は54.3%の賛成

票があったものの、過半数が反対票を占めたカントンの数が賛成票を占め

たカントンの数を上回った為、議案の承認には至らず連邦政府の検討課題

になった。家族政策のような市民生活に直結する課題は従来から地方自治

体の管轄なので、改めて中央政府が介入する必要は無いという意見が多数

を占めた結果と言われている。国家として家族政策の基本理念を憲法に定

める事は当然と思う筆者だが、連邦制であり自治を第一義と考えるスイス

人は中央政府の介入を嫌う傾向が強い。

 

「国土利用計画法」連邦政府対案は、政府の狙い通り62.9%の賛成多数を

得て承認された。今後より適切な国土利用計画に依って、過剰な住宅建設

が一定程度抑制される筈だ。遠くの丘にテラスハウスが隙間なく密集して

いる風景を見るにつけ、今取り組まねばならない緊急課題と歓迎したい。

 

今回驚きの結果となったのが、通称ミンダー・イニシアティブと呼ばれる

国民発議「反高額報酬 <gegen die Abzockerei> *2)だ。提唱者トーマ

ス・ミンダ―全州議会議員(カントン・シャフハウゼン)*3) の議案が

67.9%の賛成を得た大勝利は、「国民の怒りはかくも強かった」と報じら

れた。政治家達の発言は、「民主主義の結果だ、受け入れる。」と静観の

構え。但し、基本給を上げる等して経営陣の高額報酬を維持する逃げ道は

あり、有効な決定打とはならないと言われている。財界団体の「エコノミ

ースイス」*4) は有能な経営者がスイスに集まらなくなって国際競争力が

損なわれると、今回の結果を案じている。

 

テニス界のスター、ロジャー・フェデラ―は雇用を生まずに大金を稼いで

も批判されず、ノヴァルティスのダニエル・ヴァセラ前会長は雇用を増や

しても高額報酬を批判されるという見方はある。経営者ヴァセラ氏への高

い評価は日本でも同様の評価を得ている。ヘルスケア業界のリクルーター

山崎健一氏がブログ *5) で、「患者は顧客」という意識を持つ経営者ヴ

ァセラ氏と彼が選んだ異業種経験の後継者の選択を高く評価している。小

国に在りながら従業員数約12万人、総資産1,175億ドルの世界的大企業ノ

ヴァルティス *6) が生まれなかったらそもそも高額報酬を批判する事も

出来なかった筈だ。政府の財政支援を受けたり、業績が悪い中で法外な報

酬を得ていた経営者と同一に論じるのは公正を欠くとは思う。20133

11日付のTA紙は、ヴァセラ氏が今年初め既に米国へ住まいを移す事を決め

ていたと報じた。2014年に現在の住まいの近くに、ノヴァルティスの研修

施設の建設が計画されていたが、同社の広報担当者は、現在この計画の行

方を占うのは難しいと話した事が報じられている。

 

<JUSO(社会民主党青年部)> *7) が発議した「112の公正な給与を」

(Initiative: <1:12 - Fuer gerechte Loehne> ) *8) の議案が今秋国民

投票にかけられると報じられた。同じ事業所の最低給与と最高給与の格差

112までに抑えるという主張で、これ以上の差があっては社会正義に

反するという趣旨だ。端的に言うと掃除婦と社長の給与格差を112に止

めると言う事。これについて2013323日付TA紙のオンライン調査で、

4,031人の回答者の51%が賛成している。読者投稿欄には、「1kgのパンの

値段は誰にも同じ」等この議案を支持する複数の投稿が寄せられた。低所

得層の最低賃金を引き上げると家計の購買力が増して経済全体が潤うが、

少数の富裕層の所得をいくら増やしてもこうはならないという経済原則は

ある。又低所得層に経済的な余裕が出る方が、医療費や社会保障費の負担

が軽減出来るとも言われる。他方、競争原理無き社会は創造的な活力を失

うという論理は、ソ連崩壊で証明されている。

 

同投稿欄には「経営者」という新興貴族の隆盛についても興味深い意見が

多く寄せられていた。民間企業の経営者の給与は法律で規制出来るもので

はなく、どんな状況下でも現代の金持ち貴族は、巧妙に制度作りをして抜

け道を見つける、という意見は制度の形骸化を予見させる意見だ。18世紀

末期に起きたフランス革命で貴族は滅びたが、現代には彼等にとって代わ

る新たな搾取階級が盤石な礎を築いている。政府をも凌ぐ権力を経済界が

持つ事が認識されている。その結果経済界のモラルハザードを示す「LIBOR

スキャンダル」*9)、「タックスヘイブン秘匿情報の流出」*10) 等の大問

題が世界規模で起きている。一方で民主主義と資本主義を基盤にした西欧

社会で失業率が増加、中間所得層が貧困層に転落して貧富の格差が拡大す

る現在、現代版のフランス革命が起きる事を心配する声もある。ドイツ、

フランス等諸外国もスイスの国民投票の成り行きに注目し、EUは何らかの

改善策を講じると報じられている。もともとアングロサクソン流の利己的

で強欲な経済観念故と評される経営者の高額報酬ではある。

 

最近の国民投票に諮られる議案の内容に混迷の度合いが深まってきたよう

な印象を受ける。連邦政府も、国民発議の内容をより精査しようという意

思を示し始めた。国際法と整合性の無い議案は国民発議を認めない方針に

したいという事だ。その連邦政府・議会の構成員である中心的な既成政党

の存在感に最近陰りが見え始めて来た。中道政党故の中途半端な政策が見

限られ、分かり易い明確な路線を主張する左右の政党に市民の関心が向い

つつあるようなのだ。特に保革両方の若者の政治活動に目立つ動きが見ら

れるようになり、市民参加型政治の進化が伺える。国家には互助機能があ

るので、或る程度の社会主義的要素が含まれているものだ。どれ程その要

素を国の政策に採り入れるかは、国民の英知に委ねられるのが民主主義社

会。熟慮が必要だ。

 

 

【 参照 】

 

*1) 201333日国民投票結果:

http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/

2013/01.html

*2) 国民発議「反高額報酬」 < gegen die Abzockerei>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_referendum_%22against_rip-off_

salaries%22

*3) トーマス・ミンダ―全州議会議員:

http://www.parlament.ch/e/suche/pages/biografie.aspx?biografie_id=

4112

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%A8%E5%B7%9E%E8%AD%B0%E4%BC%9A

*4) エコノミースイス: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economiesuisse

*5) ダニエル・ヴァセラ、ノヴァルティス前会長の評価:

http://kenyamazaki.com/tag/%E3%83%8E%E3%83%90%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%

E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9/

*6) ノヴァルティスhttp://www.novartis.com/,

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8E%E3%83%90%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%

E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9

*7) 社会民主党青年部(JUSO)http://www.juso.ch/

*8) 社会民主党青年部(JUSO)の国民発議「112 正当な給与の為に」

http://1-12.ch/

http://drs.srf.ch/www/de/drs/nachrichten/schweiz/156505.initiative-

1-12-fuer-gerechte-loehne.html

*9) LIBORスキャンダル

http://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/35620

http://diamond.jp/articles/-/21340

http://www.asyura2.com/12/hasan76/msg/842.html

Libor scandal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal

*10) タックスヘイブン秘匿情報の流出:

http://www.alucia.com.hk/blog/2013/04/06/511/

http://blog.livedoor.jp/wisdomkeeper/archives/51877072.html

 

 

【 編集後記 】

 

国民投票の議案には修正案、対案、敗者復活案等、過去の経緯を複雑に引

きずる議案が多く、しばしば頭を抱える。七面倒臭い直接民主制だが、ス

イス人は粘り強く懸命に維持している。繁栄はその果実。それに引き換え、日本人の無防備な政治意識は殆ど無責任!

 

 

□━━━━━━━━━━━━【 English 】━━━━━━━━━━━━□

 

 

     The National Voting on March 3, 2013:

     Results and further development about

     people's initiative "Against Rip-off"

 

                       Akiko Huerlimann

 

 

Regarding to the background of the national voting of March 3,

please refer to our magazine < Vol. 142 - March 01, 2013>. I thought

about the result *1) and its related matter. Regarding to "Family

Politics", the affirmative vote was 54.3%, however, the number of

cantons with a majority voting against the bill was more than the

number of cantons with a majority voting in favor of the bill; the

bill was therefore not accepted and is now on the agenda to be

examined by the Federal Government in the future. The result is said

to have gained major attention; the theme like family policy

directly related to the civil life is traditionally under the

control of the local government, and the central government doesn't

need to interfere. I think it is natural to integrate principles of

family policy into the constitution as a state, however, because of

the Swiss federalism and they think self-government has priority,

therefore, Swiss people tend to hate such interference.

 

The Government's counterproposal, the "Change of National Land Use

Planning Law" was accepted with a majority of 62.9% of the votes as

the government aimed. With that result a more appropriate National

Land Use Planning in the future has to suppress to a certain degree

the excess of housing construction. With a view of the terrace

houses closely together on the hills above and around the town, I'd

like to welcome this measure as an urgent matter and such a

challenge has to be addressed.

 

The amazing result of that time was the so called <Minder

Initiative> that is the initiative <against Rip-off (= gegen die

Abzockerei) *2). The advocate Mr. Thomas Minder who is a Member of

the <Council of States> (Canton Schaffhausen) *3) received a

majority of 67.9% of the votes, and the great victory was reported

under the headline "People's anger was so strong." Politicians

expressed "that's the result of democracy, we should accept it.";

showing a wait-and-see-stance. However, it's said that there is a

way to escape from the bill by maintaining high compensations for

managers such as rising the base salary, and then the bill cannot

be effective as it's planned. The economic organization

"economiesuisse" *4) is concerned about the result that might drive

efficient managers out of Switzerland and will spoil the

international competitiveness.

 

There is the opinion, that for instance a tennis star player like

the Swiss Roger Federer isn't criticized by earning big money though

he doesn't create employment, but on the other hand Dr. Daniel

Vasella is criticized for his high salary even he created

employment. Dr. Vasella received a high evaluation as manager in

Japan too. Mr. Kenichi Yamazaki, recruiter in the health care

industry, praised Dr. Vasella in his blog *5) as a manager who

considers that the <patient is a client> and he selected his

successor at <Novartis> from a different industry. Anyway, people

shouldn't have criticized his high salary without considering the

build-up of <Novartis> to the present large global enterprise *6)

with a workforce of 120,000 employees and total assets of

US$ 117,496 millions in such a small country like Switzerland. I

don't think it's fair to discuss about him without looking at other

excessive high salary managers who receive financial support from

the government or despite poor performance. The newspaper Tages-

Anzeiger dated March 11, 2013 reported that Dr. Vasella decided to

relocate to USA already at beginning of this year. There was a plan

to build an educational center of <Novartis> near his present

residence, but the company spokesman said that presently to divine

of that current plan is difficult.

 

The <JUSO> (Young Social Democratic Party) *7) took the initiative

<1:12 - For fair wages>, and reportedly the bill (initiative) shall

be voted this autumn. The aim of the bill is that the difference of

the highest wages and the lowest wages at the same working place

should be restricted to a proportion of 1:12; more than that

difference is considered to be against social justice. Plainly

speaking, the salary of the company president should not exceed more

than twelve times that of the cleaning lady. The Online

questionnaire of the newspaper <Tages-Anzeiger> dated March 23, 2013

showed that 51% out of 4,031 people answered that they agreed with

the initiative. Reader's opinion published on the newspaper showed

that lots of people agree with the bill coming up with phrases such

as "The Price of 1kg bread is the same for everybody." There is an

economic principle saying if the minimum wages of the low-income

class is risen up, then the purchasing power of households would

increase, and the society as a whole will be enriched, however, an

income increase only for the few wealthy classes doesn’t work like

that. Furthermore, the theory is known if the low-income class has

financial capability, medical costs and social welfare costs would

mitigate. On the other hand, the logic of a society without

competition loses creative dynamism that was proved by the downfall

of the Soviet Union.

 

The Reader's column showed many interesting opinions about the rise

of a new aristocracy of managers too. There is a foreseeable comment

of the system becoming a dead letter; the manager salary at the

private sector does not work like that even by a law, and in any

situation a modern rich noble would find a loophole by cleverly

creating a system. The aristocracy was perished by the French

revolution at around the end of the eighteenth century, though now,

new exploited classes have established their rock-solid cornerstone

instead. The business community has the power to surpass even the

government that has been recognized. The results led to major global

problems such as the <LIBOR scandal> *9) and <Offshore secrets> *10)

that show the moral hazard of the business community. On the other

hand, the Western society is based on democracy and capitalism

increases unemployment, then the middle-income group falls to the

poor group, therefore, some concerns about the modern French

revolution due to the gap between the rich and the poor became

bigger. Countries such as Germany and France pay attention to the

Swiss national voting, and it is reported that the EU is going to

take certain measures about manager's salary. Anyway, originally

high compensations for managers is said to be a selfish and greedy

sense of an economy by Anglo-Saxon.

 

I've got the impression regarding to the recent national voting

bills have become messy. The Federal Government showed also its

intention to examine more details of a people's initiative. They

want to delegitimize an initiative that doesn't meet international

laws. The Federal Government and the Chambers of Parliament formed

by the member of the establishment parties whose presence has begun

to decline recently. Half of the measures by the middle-of-the-road

parties don't appeal, and people seem to be interested into left and

right parties, which politics are easy to understand. Especially

remarkable activities can be seen by conservative and radical young

party members, and the development of a further participatory

political movement might be realized. The Nation has a mutual aid

function; therefore certain levels of socialistic elements are

included. Then, how much such elements should be adapted to the

national politics; for that it should be relied onto the wisdom of

the people; that is a democratic society. We have to think deeply.

 

 

Reference

 

*1) The results of national voting on March 3, 2013:

http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/

2013/01.html

*2) People's initiative <Against rip-ff (=gegen die Abzockerei)>:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_referendum_%22against_rip-off_

salaries%22

*3) Thomas Minder, Member of the Council of States:

http://www.parlament.ch/e/suche/pages/biografie.aspx?biografie_id=

4112

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_States_%28Switzerland%29

*4) Economiesuisse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economiesuisse

*5) Evaluation of Dr. Daniel Vasella, Ex-President of Novartis:

http://kenyamazaki.com/tag/%E3%83%8E%E3%83%90%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%

E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9/ (J)

*6) Novartis: http://www.novartis.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novartis

*7) Young Social Democratic Party (JUSO)http://www.juso.ch/

*8) JUSO Initiative <1:12 for justice salary> http://1-12.ch/

http://drs.srf.ch/www/de/drs/nachrichten/schweiz/

156505.initiative-1-12-fuer-gerechte-loehne.html

*9) LIBOR scandal: http://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/35620

http://diamond.jp/articles/-/21340

http://www.asyura2.com/12/hasan76/msg/842.html

Libor scandal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal

*10) Offshore secrets: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/series/

offshore-secrets

 

 

Editor's comment

 

Many bills of national voting have a complicated history with

amendments, counterproposals, and a consolation draft; sometimes

I become stressed when composing my report. Quite burdensome is the

direct democratic system indeed, however, Swiss people keep the

system intently and with persistence. The prosperity is the fruit

of it. In contrast, the Japanese undefended (naive) political mind

is almost irresponsible!

 

 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

We are intending to offer you current topics, based on Switzerland

and Japan with global view as a multi lingual magazine. Irregular

release: Weekly Swiss News Headlines will inform Issuing schedule.

Please subscribe both mail magazines. Some amendment can be made

later.

 

スイスと日本を基点にグローバルな視点で、ニュース性に重点を置きなが

ら、適宜日英独仏語の多言語でお届けします。不定期発行: 発行案内は

Weekly Swiss News Headlines からも随時お知らせしますので、両誌共に

ご愛読お願い致します。 後日修正が加えられる場合があります。

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

jp-Swiss-journal   Number of readers: 377

Melma:   http://www.melma.com/backnumber_41022/ & etc.

Mailux: http://www.mailux.com/mm_dsp.php?mm_id=MM49D642ECE442D

Melonpan:

http://www.melonpan.net/melonpa/mag-detail.php?mag_id=002537

Mag2:    http://www.mag2.com/m/0000044048.htm

 (プロバイダーが<Bluewin>の場合は、Mag2からの配信が止められていま

 す。gmailYahoo!メールは配信される事を確認しています。)

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Issuer/発行元: Akiko Huerlimann & the editors' Group

jp-swiss-journal@bluewin.ch

Copyright (C) 1998-2013 Akiko Huerlimann

 

If you wish to refer our text, please send your mail to the

 issuer for permission.

無断転載・転送は固くご遠慮下さい。掲載のお問い合わせは発行元まで

メールでお問い合わせください。

 

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

Sister Mail Magazine:

Distribution system/発行システム】Number of readers: 1,483

Subscribe & Unsubscribe / 登録・解除・アドレス変更

Melma:   http://www.melma.com/backnumber_40438/ (J)

Mailux: http://www.mailux.com/mm_dsp.php?mm_id=MM49D0B8FB9C4B4

Melonpan:

http://www.melonpan.net/melonpa/mag-detail.php?mag_id=002526 (J)

Mag2:    http://www.mag2.com/m/0000025024.htm (J) & etc.

 (プロバイダーが<Bluewin>の場合は、Mag2からの配信が止められていま

 す。gmailYahoo!メールは配信される事を確認しています。)

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

 

to Back number