ZURICH: The Swiss parliament has taken an unusual step by voting to ban Hezbollah.
According to a Reuters report, Switzerland is generally a neutral country and plays a role in negotiations and mediation in international disputes, but Hezbollah has been banned by parliament.
The parliament voted 126 in favor of the ban, 20 against, and 41 members did not participate in the vote.
Switzerland’s upper house voted to ban Hezbollah last week and the lower house has now ratified it.
The members of parliament who proposed the ban on Hezbollah argue that Hezbollah is a threat to global security and that Switzerland needs to ban it as a measure against terrorism.
On the other hand, the Swiss government has opposed the ban.
Justice Minister Bette Jens told parliament that if Switzerland bans such organizations under special laws, we have to ask ourselves where and how to draw the line.
The parliamentary security committee, which opposed the ban on Hezbollah, took the position that Switzerland’s mediation role in peace talks and humanitarian aid would fortunately remain intact due to the special laws.
The Swiss parliament had also banned Hamas last week.
Switzerland had previously only banned al-Qaeda and ISIS, which are on the UN list of terrorist organizations.
