Call for good governance in Switzerland.

CORNELIO SOMMARUGA, President of the Caux Foundation, spoke at two public meetings in Geneva in January on 'Switzerland after the federal elections; the world after the war in Iraq'.

International civil servants, diplomats, retired ambassadors, young and old were present, and took part in the lively discussion that followed the speeches.

Sommaruga noted that the Swiss Federal Constitution opened with the words, 'In the name of God, the all-powerful'. He appealed for greater spirituality in politics, and for good governance inspired by ethical principles.

A working democracy, he went on, demanded a heightened sense of responsibility among its citizens. 'It is up to each of us, to our organizations of civil society, religious, academic, humanitarian, economic, to shoulder our responsibility and participate in public life,' he said, noting that the turnout for the recent elections had been less than 45 per cent.