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.”