Progressive Social And Economic Reforms of 2021 - Matterhorn

Rationale

These changes prioritize human rights, equity, and sustainability by removing harmful surveillance, ensuring dignity in care, protecting linguistic diversity, improving urban livability, and defending press freedom.

Proposed Changes

	Law	Previous	Proposed
1	AI Surveillance & Predictive Policing	Regulated, warrant-based, targeted use	Ban AI surveillance & facial recognition
2	Social Care for the Elderly	Capped lifetime care costs	Free universal social care
3	Official Language Policy	Single official language for all official documents and courts	Multilingual rights guaranteed (core services available in multiple languages)
4	Public Transport Policy	Mixed transport with subsidized public transit	Public transport priority (car restrictions in city centres; free transit)
5	Press Regulation	State-recognised self-regulation	No press regulation at all

1

AI Surveillance & Predictive Policing

Previous law

Regulated, warrant-based, targeted use

Ban AI surveillance & facial recognition

2

Social Care for the Elderly

Previous law

Capped lifetime care costs

Free universal social care

3

Official Language Policy

Previous law

Single official language for all official documents and courts

Multilingual rights guaranteed (core services available in multiple languages)

4

Public Transport Policy

Previous law

Mixed transport with subsidized public transit

Public transport priority (car restrictions in city centres; free transit)

5

Press Regulation

Previous law

State-recognised self-regulation

No press regulation at all

Proposer

Party

Democratic Socialist Union

A party of builders workers and dreamers stitching together a future where no one is left behind and the planet thrives.

Core pillars

Ludwig Weber

Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications · Age 51

242,630 social followers

Once a media darling and outspoken critic of the status quo, this former television host leveraged his celebrity into a political movement, blending fiery rhetoric with a ruthless strategy to dismantle entrenched interests and force systemic change.

🔬 Analytical ⭐ Celebrity 🎤 Fantastic Speaker 🗡️ Ruthless 🔥 Firebrand

Timeline

Draft

8 August 2021
Vote Open

8 August 2021
Vote Closed

7 October 2021
Became Law

7 October 2021

Vote tally

Live tally across each chamber. Weighted by seats held.

Bundesrat

Passed

4Yes 3No 0Not voted 7 seats

For: 4 / 7 seats (57.1%)

Against: 3 · Abstained: 0 · Not voted: 0

50.1% of those voting must vote in favour (actual = 57.1%)

Party	Seats	Vote	Reason
Conservative Movement	2	No	This bill is a catalog of irresponsible measures that directly threatens our security, our economy, and our national sovereignty. Banning AI surveillance and facial recognition strips law enforcement of crucial tools to fight crime effectively. Implementing free universal social care and completely free public transport, paired with the total deregulation of the press, is a fiscal nightmare that will bankrupt public finances already strained by their reckless demagoguery. Furthermore, guaranteed multilingual rights undermine the national unity we must uphold. These progressive reforms destroy order, discipline, and the very foundations of our society. We entirely reject this destructive text.
Democratic Socialist Union Proposer	4	Yes	No reason given
Reformist League Of Matterhorn	1	No	We support multilingual rights considering the variety of cultures on Matterhorn, and on top of that, we have three "official" languages on paper, but which in practice are not applied to the services. On the other hand, we also agree with free universal social assistance for the elderly, although it is not our top priority, But we will have to reject the press regulations, which will give way to sensationalist and misleading newspapers and other horrors, a completely free press is not freedom, AI surveillance, as our conservative colleagues have said, is necessary to keep order from criminal gangs that threaten our national security. We partially reject the article.

Ständerat

Passed

25Yes 21No 0Not voted 46 seats

For: 25 / 46 seats (54.3%)

Against: 21 · Abstained: 0 · Not voted: 0

50.1% of those voting must vote in favour (actual = 54.3%)

Party	Seats	Vote	Reason
Conservative Movement	13	No	This bill is a catalog of irresponsible measures that directly threatens our security, our economy, and our national sovereignty. Banning AI surveillance and facial recognition strips law enforcement of crucial tools to fight crime effectively. Implementing free universal social care and completely free public transport, paired with the total deregulation of the press, is a fiscal nightmare that will bankrupt public finances already strained by their reckless demagoguery. Furthermore, guaranteed multilingual rights undermine the national unity we must uphold. These progressive reforms destroy order, discipline, and the very foundations of our society. We entirely reject this destructive text.
Democratic Socialist Union Proposer	25	Yes	No reason given
Reformist League Of Matterhorn	8	No	We support multilingual rights considering the variety of cultures on Matterhorn, and on top of that, we have three "official" languages on paper, but which in practice are not applied to the services. On the other hand, we also agree with free universal social assistance for the elderly, although it is not our top priority, But we will have to reject the press regulations, which will give way to sensationalist and misleading newspapers and other horrors, a completely free press is not freedom, AI surveillance, as our conservative colleagues have said, is necessary to keep order from criminal gangs that threaten our national security. We partially reject the article.

Nationalrat

Passed

108Yes 92No 0Not voted 200 seats

For: 108 / 200 seats (54.0%)

Against: 92 · Abstained: 0 · Not voted: 0

50.1% of those voting must vote in favour (actual = 54.0%)

Party	Seats	Vote	Reason
Conservative Movement	56	No	This bill is a catalog of irresponsible measures that directly threatens our security, our economy, and our national sovereignty. Banning AI surveillance and facial recognition strips law enforcement of crucial tools to fight crime effectively. Implementing free universal social care and completely free public transport, paired with the total deregulation of the press, is a fiscal nightmare that will bankrupt public finances already strained by their reckless demagoguery. Furthermore, guaranteed multilingual rights undermine the national unity we must uphold. These progressive reforms destroy order, discipline, and the very foundations of our society. We entirely reject this destructive text.
Democratic Socialist Union Proposer	108	Yes	No reason given
Reformist League Of Matterhorn	36	No	We support multilingual rights considering the variety of cultures on Matterhorn, and on top of that, we have three "official" languages on paper, but which in practice are not applied to the services. On the other hand, we also agree with free universal social assistance for the elderly, although it is not our top priority, But we will have to reject the press regulations, which will give way to sensationalist and misleading newspapers and other horrors, a completely free press is not freedom, AI surveillance, as our conservative colleagues have said, is necessary to keep order from criminal gangs that threaten our national security. We partially reject the article.

Voting record

Every vote must state a public reason. Most recent first.

R

Reformist League Of Matterhorn

Voted Aug. 12, 2021

No

“We support multilingual rights considering the variety of cultures on Matterhorn, and on top of that, we have three "official" languages on paper, but which in practice are not applied to the services. On the other hand, we also agree with free universal social assistance for the elderly, although it is not our top priority, But we will have to reject the press regulations, which will give way to sensationalist and misleading newspapers and other horrors, a completely free press is not freedom, AI surveillance, as our conservative colleagues have said, is necessary to keep order from criminal gangs that threaten our national security. We partially reject the article.”

Conservative Movement

Voted Aug. 8, 2021

No

“This bill is a catalog of irresponsible measures that directly threatens our security, our economy, and our national sovereignty. Banning AI surveillance and facial recognition strips law enforcement of crucial tools to fight crime effectively. Implementing free universal social care and completely free public transport, paired with the total deregulation of the press, is a fiscal nightmare that will bankrupt public finances already strained by their reckless demagoguery. Furthermore, guaranteed multilingual rights undermine the national unity we must uphold. These progressive reforms destroy order, discipline, and the very foundations of our society. We entirely reject this destructive text.”