The “For a committed Switzerland” initiative wanted to see compulsory military or civilian service for men extended to women and expanded to additional forms of service to benefit society such as protecting the environment, assisting vulnerable people and helping with disaster prevention.
The civic duty proposal was launched by Geneva-based association servicecitoyen.ch, backed by a petition with 107,613 signatures and the support of the Liberal Greens, the Evangelical Party, the Pirate Party, the youth wing of the Centre Party and other associations.
Both initiatives failed to garner wider political support from the Swiss government or other parties, and a poll 10 days before the vote predicted ballot-box defeats for both.
