Mayor’s president makes the Federal Councils look pale

Albert Rösti and Martin Pfister took part in the media conference on Wednesday after the catastrophe in Blatten. But the actual leader was the mayor.

He is silent. Although information chief Matthias Ebener announced him. And although the Federal Councilor Albert Rösti and Martin Pfister look over to him. 34 seconds – an eternity at a media conference.

Then Matthias Bellwald, Mayor of Blatten – in the Valais dialect – speaks to the population of Blatten. He says sentences like: « We lost the village, but not our heart. » And: « Hug each other, support each other, help each other, comfort each other. » And: « We all make it possible to build the village again and have a future. » And: « We are very close to you. »

They are words of the encouragement that aptly express the pain that the 300 people who had to rush and see it sinked under huge rubble mountains on Wednesday afternoon.

Bellwald, the former colonel in the general staff, professional instructor and since January 1, 2025 Mayor of Blatten, describes with his words a disaster that is unique in the recent history of Switzerland. He receives a lot of praise for his appearance and for how he leads the regional management staff Lötschental with Blatten’s municipal council.

Just three and a half hours after the catastrophe, it was « very difficult » to organize a media conference, says Beat Rieder. « You have to see that it took place in a very hectic moment and in a agitated mood. » Rieder himself lives in Wiler, the village right in front of Blatten. He is closely pursuing the events.

Rieder has only praise for Blattens Mayor. « He is very routine and very structured, » he says. « It is a great success that all people – possibly with one exception – could be evacuated in time. »

« It connects him a thousand stories with this place »

Political scientist Michael Hermann also followed Bellwald’s appearance. His village died for the mayor, says Hermann. «It combines a thousand stories with this place. That’s why he is very credible. « 

Somehow that is « not only a worst case, but also a best case, » says Hermann. «It was great how well the evacuation worked. Just imagine: Without warning, maybe 300 people would have been wiped out. » Nevertheless, the catastrophe symbolically and emotionally had a historical note: « We have never experienced that an entire village is buried under a mountain. »

The disaster in the Lötschental has completely different dimensions than flooding. « The houses cannot be rebuilt here, » says Hermann. “The residents have to persevere somewhere over the years, and it will not be easy to create a community in a new blating next to the rubble cone. This is a completely new experience for modern Switzerland. »

Bellwald has grasped this dimension with his words. In contrast to the Federal Councils Albert Rösti and Martin Pfister. Her statements at the media conference remain strangely bloodless.

The Keystone-Sda livestream runs for ten minutes that Wednesday until Bellwald takes the floor. Pfister and Rösti arrive after one and a half minutes, look for their place, take notes, take a sip of water. Pfister looks at his two cell phones, Rösti underlines important sentences in the speech. The federal councils are obviously finding it difficult to sit still for ten minutes – in contrast to the other participants.

Rösti and Pfister almost deliver a « Laschet moment »

Pfister and Rösti talk to each other. Pfister laughs, then Rösti laughs. Later Pfister nested on his jacket, which he dressed over the Blazer, leans towards Rösti. This also nesting on his jacket. Both laugh. It is almost a “Laschet moment”: in 2021 the German CDU candidate of Chancellor Armin Laschet visited and laughed when Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke about the victims. Laschet’s laugh was the turn in the German election campaign.

It has « something charming » that the mayor «  » cut out the two federal councils « , says Hermann. It is logical that the catastrophe feels more than it. «Only: In all the emotions, he also has to find the right words. He succeeded like a professional. »

Pfister and Rösti expressed great praise, however. « Chapeau that they were on site so quickly, » he emphasizes. « This sign was extremely important for the population of Blatten. »

« We now have an extraordinary century event »

The leadership staff of the Lötschental have « promptly » informed Rösti and Pfister about the situation in Blatten, says Rieder. On Wednesday afternoon it was Rieder personally who told the two federal councils: « We now have an extraordinary annual event. »

The situation was not easy for Rösti. From 2 to 2.30 p.m. he was at a media conference in Bern – and at 3:30 p.m. he learned from the disaster. After that he had to react quickly.

Unlike Rösti and Pfister, Adolf Ogi 2000 managed to shape a turn with a single sentence as Federal President at the storm disaster in Gondo: « The mountain has lost its hold. »

Ogi is an honorary citizen of the Lötschental communities Ferden, Kippel, Wiler and Blatten. Three weeks ago, he had invited 30 children from the Lötschental to the Grand Prix Bern. Some of the parents of these children have now lost their house, he ponderes. « I’m destroyed, suffering, sad. » He doesn’t want to say more.