The General Council of Neuchâtel unanimously approved a ⁤revised regulation for⁣ citizen assemblies on Monday evening.⁤ The initial regulation came into effect on January 1, 2023, and underwent a first assessment in May ⁤2024, following five sessions of review⁤ by the committee of citizen assemblies and the districts. The revised version presented on Monday represents a complete overhaul of the ​existing rules.

After three⁢ years of implementation, the ⁤assessment of the citizen assembly system is positive, deemed “satisfactory” by the council.

Debate Over Mandate Perimeters

A⁤ key point of contention during the revision process centered‍ on the scope of ⁤mandates citizen assemblies could issue. Aël ‍Kistler proposed allowing assemblies to file mandates concerning areas ⁣outside their immediate jurisdiction,arguing,”There are special areas that concern everyone,such‍ as young people for example.”

This proposal faced opposition from the PLR (Liberal⁤ Radical Party) group, who filed an amendment⁣ against the article.⁢ Marc Rémy, leader of the PLR group, emphasized the importance of local focus, stating, “The essence of citizen assemblies is proximity.”

Amendment rejected, concerns Addressed

the⁢ PLR amendment was ultimately rejected by a vote of 23 against​ 15, with 2 abstentions. Addressing concerns about assemblies overstepping their boundaries, Aël Kistler explained that the limited number of available ‍mandates would naturally ​constrain assemblies from pursuing mandates outside their perimeter. She argued that choosing to address broader issues would come at the expense of ⁢focusing on local concerns: “As ⁤the number of mandates is limited, the citizen assembly which decides to pose a ⁤mandate concerning another perimeter will ⁢do so to the detriment of a more ⁣local potential for its own perimeter.”