Sheep poster
The so-called sheep poster was a controversial poster of the Swiss People's Party (SVP). The party used the poster to advertise the federal popular initiative “For the deportation of criminal foreigners (deportation initiative)” and for the election campaign for the 2007 Swiss parliamentary elections, which was taking place at the same time . The poster was reused for the voting campaign for the enforcement initiative in February 2016.
motive
The poster reads diagonally from top left to bottom right. It shows a red area with a white cross, on which are three white sheep , one of which is pushing another black sheep out of the red area with its hind legs . At the bottom right of the motif is the text “Create security” and the logo of the Swiss People's Party (SVP). The motif was designed by the Zurich agency Goal AG .
use
The motif of the poster initially served as an advertisement for the deportation initiative launched by the SVP in July 2007 and was depicted on a signature sheet that was sent to all Swiss households on August 1, 2007 ( Swiss National Day ).
At the same time as the collection of signatures, the election campaign for the parliamentary elections of October 2007 took place. The motif served there as an election poster for the SVP.
criticism
The SVP emerged as the big winner in the 2007 parliamentary elections and described the motive as a success. In addition, the deportation initiative came into being with 210,919 valid signatures; the vote took place on November 28, 2010.
Opponents of the SVP and observers such as the UN rapporteur on racism, Doudou Diène , saw the campaign as a xenophobic or racist undertone or interpreted the poster as a call for the deportation of blacks or foreigners in general. Various articles and comments appeared in the international press that took the same point of view and warned of the growing racist potential in the Swiss population, especially after the SVP's election victory.
Since the poster did not contain any reference to the popular initiative, the poster could be interpreted beyond specific political demands (deportation of criminal foreigners). This led to the accusation that the motive was directed across the board against foreigners and blacks and that the resulting ambiguity was accepted with approval. The SVP denied this.
Use by other parties
After the success of the poster in Switzerland, the Hessian NPD took up this idea and used a slightly different motif in the context of the state election campaign in Hesse (January 2008). This met with rejection at the SVP, the party considered a lawsuit against the NPD.
The Spanish right-wing radical group Democracia Nacional also uses the motif, this time with the Spanish flag as a background for the white sheep. The sheep poster was also copied by the Italian Lega Nord , Vlaams Belang , Úsvit and the Czech National Party .
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland parodied the poster at its party congress on August 18 with a version in which, instead of the black sheep, a billy goat was to be seen with the face of Christoph Blocher , with the text: "Dismiss, SVP!". This alludes to the SVP's election mascot in the form of a living billy goat called "Zottel".
Individual evidence
- ^ The poster of the Swiss People's Party used in the election campaign for the Swiss parliamentary elections .
- ^ SVP links August 1 with deportation initiative , nachrichten.ch of July 26, 2007
- ↑ a b NZZ Online from September 14, 2007: "UN reporter calls for withdrawal of SVP poster"
- ↑ Late outrage , Weltwoche 42/07
- ↑ Switzerland: Europe's heart of darkness? (Online reprint from Belfast Telegraph ), The Independent , 7 Sep 2007.
- ↑ Dessine-moi un mouton , television program Temps présent by Télévision Suisse Romande on November 8, 2007
- ↑ Analysis of the effect of the poster on rhetorik.ch from July 16, 2007 (with various updates)
- ↑ People's party accused of 'racist' campaign , swissinfo.ch, August 30, 2007
- ^ Sheep among themselves ( Memento of April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). Extra 3 blog from October 9, 2007.
- ↑ Article and extensive picture gallery about this and other SVP posters , www.20min.ch from October 1, 2007
- ↑ NZZ: A lesson in security from the north
- ^ Turkije boos op VB
- ↑ In Chemnitz they did it again: where right-wing extremists everywhere grab SVP sheep
- ↑ Radio Praha: Public law rejection of the election spot of the right-wing radical national party
