Switzerland appeared set to endorse a ban on building new minarets on mosques, in a referendum today called by the right-wing Swiss People"s Party (SVP), dpa reported. Although not all votes have yet been counted, projections from exit polls suggest 59 per cent support for the ban. That would come as a surprise result, after opinion polls in the run-up to the referendum suggested a narrow majority against such a ban. A ban is likely to reignite passions around the role of Islam in Swiss society, and be watched by other European countries with larger muslim populations. Although not all votes are in, analysts said the trend indicated that there was little chance of a reversal at this point. Representatives of various Swiss political parties appeared on television saying the vote had been spurred by fears of the spread of militant Islamists and that the SVP had read the public mood correctly. Members of the Social Democrats and Green parties had sided with the Swiss Federal Council, the collective executive branch of government, in opposing a construction ban. Switzerland has some 400,000 Muslims who pray in otherwise unassuming-appearing mosques. There are only four minarets in the country. The call for the referendum was prompted by requests to add minarets to existing religious structures. The Swiss administration had warned that a vote against minarets could have adverse effects on Switzerland"s relationship with the Arab world as it tried to remind voters of the country"s image of religious tolerance. Switzerland"s system of "direct democracy" allows groups or individuals to put forward laws that are then voted on through popular referendums, bypassing parliament. The referendum has become controversial after the SVP once ran a poster campaign showing a completely veiled woman standing next to a Swiss flag pierced with menacing minarets. The poster was banned in several key cantons in Switzerland, with the local governments saying it was racist. Others allowed it in the name of freedom of expression.
