Switzerland approve same-sex marriage by wide margin in referendum
Geneva, Sep 26: Switzerland voted by a wide margin to allow same-sex couples to marry in a referendum on Sunday, bringing the Alpine nation into line with many others in western Europe.
Official results showed the measure passed with 64.1per cent of voters in favor and won a majority in all of Switzerland's 26 cantons, or states.
Switzerland's parliament and the governing Federal Council supported the Marriage for All measure. Switzerland has authorised same-sex civil partnerships since 2007.
Supporters said passage would put same-sex partners on equal legal footing with heterosexual couples by allowing them to adopt children together and facilitating citizenship for same-sex spouses. It would also permit lesbian couples to utilise regulated sperm donation.
Opponents believe that replacing civil partnerships with full marriage rights would undermine families based on a union between one man and one woman.
At a polling station in Geneva on Sunday, voter Anna Leimgruber said she cast her ballot for the no camp because she believed children would need to have a dad and a mom.
But Nicolas Dzierlatka, who voted yes, said what children need is love.
I think what's important for children is that they are loved and respected and I think there are children who are not respected or loved in so-called 'hetero' couples, he said.
The campaign has been rife with allegations of unfair tactics, with the opposing sides decrying the ripping down of posters, LGBT hotlines getting flooded with complaints, hostile emails, shouted insults against campaigners and efforts to silence opposing views.
Switzerland, which has a population of 8.5 million, is traditionally conservative and only extended the right to vote to all its women in 1990.
Most countries in Western Europe already recognise same-sex marriage, while most of those in Central and Eastern Europe don't allow wedlock involving two men or two women.
Supporters say it could still be months before same-sex couples can get married, mainly because of administrative and legislative procedures.
Also on Sunday, voters dismissed a proposal spearheaded by left-wing groups to raise taxes on returns from investments and capital such as dividends or income from rental properties in Switzerland as a way to ensure better redistribution and fairer taxation.
Results showed 64.9per cent voting against it in a country known for its vibrant financial sector and relatively low taxes, and as a haven for many of the world's richest people. No canton voted in favour.
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'At least come for my funeral...,' Cong chief Kharge's emotional pitch at rally on home turf
Kalaburagi (Karnataka), Apr 24: Seeking to strike an emotional chord with the people of his home district of Kalaburagi, Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday appealed to them to at least attend his funeral if they thought he worked for them even though they do not wish to vote for the party candidate here in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking at a poll rally at Afzalpur in this district, the 81-year-old also said that if they (people) did not vote for the Congress candidate, he would think that he did not have "any place" in Kalaburagi anymore.
The Congress has fielded Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani from Kalaburagi, against BJP’s sitting MP Umesh Jadhav.
"If you miss your vote this time (if you don't vote for the Congress candidate), I will think that I don’t have any place here for me and I could not win your heart," said Kharge, who won the Lok Sabha elections here in 2009 and 2014, but lost in 2019.
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"Whether you vote for us (Congress) or not, but at least come to my funeral if you think that I have done for Kalaburagi," the Congress chief said.
He also said that he would continue in politics till his last breath to "defeat" the BJP and RSS ideology.
"I am born for politics. Whether or not I will contest the election, I will strive till my last breath to save the Constitution and democracy of this country. I will not retire from politics," Kharge asserted.
Explaining further, he said retirement happens from a position but one should not retire from his/her principles. "I am born to defeat the ideology of the BJP and RSS and not to surrender before them."
He also advised Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who shared the dais with him, to follow his principles. "I tell Siddaramaiah repeatedly that you may retire as CM or MLA, but you cannot retire from politics till you defeat the ideology of the BJP and RSS."
