Voting rights complaint against the Bernese Viererfeld development

Bern city councilor Simone Machado from the Green Alternative Party (GaP) and her former city council colleague Luzius Theiler have filed a voting rights complaint against the planned large-scale development on the Viererfeld in Bern.

At the beginning of February, the city parliament passed the draft for the referendum of May 15th. In the end, the approval was clear with 54 to 19 votes with 4 abstentions. A centre-left majority prevailed. But there is still fundamental opposition to the overbuilding, namely from the SVP and from the small Green Alternative Party.

GaP councilwoman Machado already announced in the city council that she had a voting rights complaint in the drawer. Now she has submitted it, as she announced on Friday.

Machado and her comrade-in-arms, former city councilor Luzius Theiler, see the unity of matter violated in the voting business. The proposal consists of two parts: on the one hand, there is a loan of almost CHF 125 million for the further planning and construction of the necessary infrastructure, on the other hand, the delivery of the building land with building rights.

By mixing different questions in a voting template, the free will of the voters cannot be expressed. In addition, according to the municipal code, the financial powers of the electorate cannot be delegated to the municipal council, the complainants state in a statement.

The Viererfeld is a large area on the edge of downtown Bern that is still mainly used for agriculture. A new city district with around 1100 apartments is to be built there. After decades of back and forth, the people approved the zone plans in 2016 and thus gave the green light for further planning. The vote in May is now considered the “final milestone” for the major project.

The governor responsible for the complaint must now decide, among other things, whether or not to revoke the suspensive effect of the complaint. This question has an impact on whether the vote in May can take place as planned.

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