Cast The First Vote

Things have changed, since Toño became a passport carrying Swiss. We now spend Friday evenings watching political discussions yelling on Swiss television.



What was it about? Whether arbitrariness should become a corner stone in the Swiss naturalisation process (read about).

The ratings must had been phenomenal, since it was the first public encounter between the most famous lady and most infamous diva of Swiss politics.

Now only the ballot has to arrive so that Toño can cast his first vote.

Züri-Hegel

Do you remember this? Even bureaucrats sometimes mange to shove some paper. After they processed it for over two and half years, Toño finally received his citizenship certificate:



We celebrated this event in a traditional Zürich tourist-trap (in the company and at the cost of some top Cypriot wine makers).

Although, I had lived in Zürich for 25 years and 10 days when Toño was naturalised, he now refers to me as the foreigner, since I'm citizen of Märstetten. This village lies in Thurgau, a former colony of Switzerland which was liberated by Napoleon (e.g. my place of birth was built in the colonial era).

Toño is now entitled to apply for a Swiss passport, which he should receive in a fortnight.

Only Yodeling Was Not Required

Finally some good news: Toño was granted Swiss citizenship yesterday evening! The process of naturalization is not yet completed, but from now on it's only long-winded bureaucratic paper shoveling. However, Toño's office pals couldn't wait till then and already equipped him with the bare Swiss essentials.



We Swiss like to do things our way. That's why we have a triple level citizenship (Confederation, canton and community). Every Swiss is a citizen of his/her place/community of origin, his/her canton of origin and the Confederation, in this order: a Swiss citizen is defined as someone who has the citizenship of a Swiss municipalities (art. 37 of the Swiss Federal Constitution).

The procedure to obtain it is rather tedious. After filling endless forms and questionaries, Toño had to wait several months, until he was invited to a course on Swiss history and political system.

The mayor and his associates of the town government summoned him to a test on the subjects taught before. But what did they know themselves? It was Toño who had to tell them that the opera by Rossini on William Tell is far better that the play by Schiller.

After some further waiting, Toño was summoned to an interview with a commission of the town parliament. They wanted to find out how well Toño has integrated himself into Swiss behavior and social structure. He could shut them up by explaining that he cooks according to the recipes of Le Menu, a publication of the Swiss dairy farmers (they really asked about his diet).

Finally, yesterday evening, there was the big vote in the town parliament. From 38 possible votes, Toño received 28, 9 abstained (cowards!), and a bloke of the right wing Swiss People's Party said no to him. How could he, even the lady from the far-right Swiss Democrats with the bad hairdo could not resist his charm. Who cares. It's done, if no one of his (soon to be) fellow citizens raises an objection within 20 days.

Hilarius

We Swiss like to do things our way. That's why we have a triple level citizenship (Confederation, canton and community). Every Swiss is a citizen of his/her place/community of origin, his/her canton of origin and the Confederation, in this order: a Swiss citizen is defined as someone who has the citizenship of a Swiss municipalities (art. 37 of the Swiss Federal Constitution). He/she is entered in the family register of his/her place of origin. The place of origin is the place where the family (usually the father) comes from. It is not to be confused with the place of birth. The place of origin can be the same as the place of birth, but this is not necessarily the case.

This system makes naturalisation a tedious and embracing process. On the other hand, it allows special traditions for citizens of a community that are not open for people who just live there. I live in Zürich, but I'm a citizen of Märstetten, which coincidentally happens to be my place of birth.

Märstetten has one of these traditions that is celebrated on Hilarius's day, which is today - and hence is called Hilarius. Today's celebration goes back to the naturalisation of citizen in 1860, who liked to show his appreciation by inviting all (male) citizens to a dinner with sausage, bread and wine. And that how it's still celebrated on January 13th in Märstetten with free Salzisse sausage, bread, a bottle of Bachtobel wine and a wheat flour soup at midnight.