Switzerland has voted against an unprecedented far-right proposal to limit the population of the country to 10 million people, in a referendum that has been dubbed the Swiss Brexit.

Almost 55% of voters rejected the motion, which was put forward by the anti-immigration Swiss People’s party (SVP). Another 45% voted in favour of capping the population, a move which no country has ever done before.

Had the motion passed, the Swiss government would have been forced to restrict family reunification and visas for foreign nationals to ensure the population would not reach 10 million people by 2050. About 27% of Switzerland’s 9.1 million residents are not Swiss citizens.

The policy would have thrown Switzerland’s relationship with the EU into jeopardy, forcing its withdrawal from the bloc’s free movement agreement and single market.

The SVP, which has the highest number of seats in the Swiss parliament, argued that the population cap was designed to protect the country’s crowded public services. However, the party has a long history of campaigning on an anti-immigration platform.

“Voters were worried ‌about negative consequences for Switzerland’s relationship with the EU and for the labour market,” Urs Bieri, a spokesperson for the polling firm GFS Bern, told Reuters.

“People are also worried about things like having enough care and ‌health workers. Also, there’s a feeling that in the current international environment it’s not sensible for a small country to do this.”

Switzerland’s system of direct democracy allows for any proposal that gets 100,000 backers to be taken to referendum within 18 months.

Nearly 59% of Swiss citizens turned out to vote, a far higher percentage than the average of 49% seen for popular votes in recent years.

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