Back to Tell’s Land (Day-6)
Day 6:
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
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Dr Julian Thomas Hottinger
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Decentralization
pulls diverse peoples together. On the contrary, centralization only serves to
push them apart.
Sao Yawd
Serk, Chairman, Restoration Council of Shan State, speaking to foreign department
officials in Bern, 18 January 2016
Today, we are honored by a scholar highly
respected among groups working in Burma. Dr. Julian Hottinger is a 27 year
veteran consultant for projects over conflicts in several countries, including
Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Sudan.
Again, there isn’t any
opportunity for me to take notes of this presentation on ceasefire
implementation. But I do remember two things:
·
I’ve never known any treaty signed by all the groups concerned.
(Because not all parties have
signed, one cannot say a ceasefire has failed.
One should not close the door
to others in a nation-wide ceasefire.
The legitimacy of the
ceasefire comes with its implementation: Sitting and waiting for other
signatures is not a good tactic.
While time goes by, more
parties will sign and therefore it is crucial not to marginalize or exclude
anyone.)
·
Security Sector Reform/Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
(SSR/DDR) can be discussed (concurrently with other topics). But agreement can
come only after agreement on political issues has been concluded (not before).
At least that’s what I think he means.
At 15:00, we are in Bern again, this time
to attend the presentation given by Mr. Thomas Minger, head of home affairs, on
the principles of fiscal federalism.
After all these years, the only thing I
know well about money is how to spend it, and maybe also saving it for the
rainy day. All my life, the subject has too much been deep water for me. But
perhaps this time, he manages to knock some sense into my old thick head.
Finance, according to him, is the core of
federalism. The distribution of powers to different level of government will
mean nothing unless it comes along with distribution of finance. Suppose Shan
State is allowed to set up a self defense force, but there is no budget
allocation for it, what can the Shan State government do?
He goes further to explain how the Three
Guiding Principles of Swiss Federalism is being applied for fiscal matters.
The three principles are:
·
Subsidiarity
Every task shall be carried
out at the lowest level possible
·
Fiscal equivalence
Each function of government
should be financed at the level at which it is consumed, and decisions are
taken by those who pay
·
Direct democracy
Elections/voting
People’s initiatives,
Referendums and Petitions
The first principle is applied in the
following way:
·
Regional and local problems have to be solved at the cantonal or
communal level.
National concerns meanwhile
require national solutions.
·
For example, internal security is managed by cantons; national
security by the confederation.
A look at the following graphic will be
more lucid for both the first and second principles:
One sees that:
·
When it is general administration, the communes have more to spend
than other levels. The same goes for culture, sport and leisure, and protection
of the environment and spatial planning
·
But when it comes to health and education, the cantons are spending
the most
·
As for national economy, finances and taxes, the top expenditures go
to the confederation
·
Interestingly, the confederation and cantons (collectively) are
spending almost the same amount for security
More interestingly, tax sources and
maximum tax rates are fixed in the constitution by applying the third
principle, direct democracy. “It means if the government wants to revise the
tax rates, it can only be done by changing the constitution, which in turn can
only be done through referendums,” says Mr. Minger.
Which also means a citizen is required to
pay his dues to all three levels of government. But how? “In Germany, all taxes
are paid to the federal government, which then transfers them to the state and
local governments,” he explains. “But here, you pay directly to each level through
your bank.” (Well, when do you think we can do the same back home?)
Another particular we learn about the
Swiss fiscal federalism is equalization of resources, which in plain language
means rich cantons must share their wealth with the poorer ones.
According to the graphic, the
minimum equalization is fixed at 85% since as many as 9 cantons are below it, a
referendum was held to decide on it resulting in the resource index shown in
the above graphic. “Richer cantons of course didn’t like it,” he reports. “But
they can’t very well go against the popular decision either.”
So what is the average taxpayer getting
out of it?
·
Free schooling
·
Security
·
Infrastructure
·
Culture (“You may think you still have to pay for the ticket to a cultural
event. But what the event costs is much more than the fee you pay. That comes
from your tax.”)
·
Services
·
Social Security
What about health care? We are to learn
about it tomorrow.
Tags: Opinion
