Swiss vote to ban construction of new minarets nationwide

The anti-immigration SVP party believes the spires from where followers of Islam are called to prayer demonstrate a “political-religious claim to power”.

It forced a referendum on whether or not minarets should be banned after collecting 100,000 signatures from eligible voters within 18 months.

Over 57% of Swiss voters chose to approve a blanket ban on the construction of Muslim minarets, according to official results posted by Swiss news agency ATS.