Government Council Initiative for car-free Sundays invalid according to the Basel-Landschaft government

The Basel-Landschaft popular initiative "Car-free Sundays" submitted last March is not legally valid. This is the conclusion reached by the legal service of the government and the cantonal council. The initiative does not comply with the Federal Constitution or federal law, the executive announced on Wednesday.

According to the government, the canton is not authorized to generally restrict motorized traffic on its territory "by law". The federal government can issue temporary driving bans for all or individual motor vehicles that apply to the whole of Switzerland. The cantons, on the other hand, can only issue driving bans, traffic restrictions and traffic regulation orders for certain roads, it says. In addition, the cantons could only ban motor vehicle and bicycle traffic completely or restrict it in terms of time if no through roads were affected.

The government is asking the cantonal parliament to declare the petition for a referendum legally invalid. The "Car-free Sundays" initiative was submitted last March by a politically independent group from Liestal with 1665 valid signatures. The initiative demands that the government of Basel-Landschaft close the roads to cars, trucks and motorcycles from 08:00 to 20:00 on four Sundays a year.