Covid Reckoning in Switzerland? Not so Fast!
Alt-Covid Cheers Celebrating an Incipient 'Reckoning with the Past' Might be Overblown
There is certainly a lot that’s not ideal, some things may even be rotten—and given that alt-Covid thought-leaders, such as Mark Crispin Miller (shout-out to him!), are in on it, I thought we may as well have a brief look at what’s going on.
As happened time and again, the Swiss are, indeed, way ahead of their European neighbours. So far, three criminal charges are pending against Federal President (and Health Minister) Alain Berset, and now the Swiss National Council has also set up a dedicated Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into all matters Covid. As if that were not enough, Berset also answered the—admittedly harmless—questions of the press. In other words: a few notes on Switzerland are in order.
Social Media Gaslights the Way
Alt-Covid content on social networks is ablaze these days:
Two days ago, things concerning Covid and Switzerland were reported that those who follow Swiss media—or read articles over at TKP.AT—have known about for weeks, if not months. (If you look at the second tweet, you will find a short video of Pascal Najadi, who is behind one of the aforementioned third criminal complaints).
National Council set up an Commission of Enquiry—at the End of January
In reality, however, the entry on ‘Twitter’, dated 8 Feb. 2023, is little more than ‘old news’. Of course, for those interested in the investigation of the Covid measures (like, say, me), this is an important milestone, but this news is neither ‘breaking’ nor particularly exciting.
Already on 24 Jan. 2023, Swiss media reported the following (all emphases mine):
Parliament investigates indiscretions that occurred after Federal Council [gov’t] meetings related to pandemic measures. The Parliamentary Affairs Audit Committee [Geschäftsprüfungskommission, or GPK; the Nat’l Council’s permanent compliance/oversight board] have set up a working group for this purpose. This group is concerned with more than the accusations against the Department of Home Affairs...The six-member working group set up by the CPC will now start an investigation into these Corona leaks.
However, it is "not only" about the activities of Health Minister Alain Berset (my emphasis):
There has already been an investigation into these matters at Federal Council meetings for about two years by a sub-commission, Michel said. The Covid-19 area will now be spun off and the working group that has now been created will be set up for this purpose.
The working group will also deal with allegations of indiscretions against Berset's former head of communications, Peter Lauener, that have come to light in the media. ‘We are not in an open field here’, Michel qualified. Criminal investigations are already underway, and [the Covid investigation] results but from the separation of powers [between the legislative and the judiciary].
Oh, what a wonderfully ‘functioning’ country, in which criminal charges are not simply dismissed or dropped. The suspicions against the government are apparently so credible that the National Council has been dealing with these issues ‘for about two years already’.
The ‘Corona Leaks’ Affair
In addition, Swiss Federal President and Health Minister Alain Berset faced questions by the country’s journalists a good month ago. As expected, the informative value of his answers was limited, but the mere fact that—none other than state broadcaster (!) SRF—such halfway critical, if not outright ‘lateral’ questions were asked, can be considered significant in its own right in light of the past three years.
Berset commented on the accusations as follows:
It is quite strange that a whole dossier of an ongoing criminal investigation simply ends up in the media. That is certainly a problem. I’m not concerned by this [weirdly, because there’s three such complaints against Berset et al. pending], but it’s not o.k. for the involved individuals either. There needs to be due process for everyone.
Secondly, it is precisely these criminal investigations that should clarify this. This means that you simply have to let the justice system work. In the end, we will see whether there was a problem. I don’t think it’s up to politicians to comment on ongoing criminal investigations. Due to the separation of powers, one simply has to let the judiciary work.
It is true that self-criticism is in short supply with Berset, but at least he said so when asked about it:
But I have taken note—and I think this is a good thing—that Parliament and the Commission of Enquiry are also looking into this to determine whether there is a problem to be solved…We must not forget what happened a few years ago. We were in the middle of the pandemic. It was a huge challenge, we were working like crazy. I’m glad we got out of that situation. And there is now an ongoing process within the judiciary and I expect that there will also be discussions at the parliamentary commissions. That’s exactly what and where this should happen.
Apparently there are ‘different’ norms and expectations in Switzerland than, say, in Covidistan or perhaps also in your home country, my dear readers.
Speaking of expectations, the above comments refer to ‘mainstream’ media. In the ‘alternative’, or more state-critical outlets, this matter is treated quite differently. Take, e.g., the main alt-Covid paper, the SVP-affiliated Weltwoche, which wrote the following:
Ex-SP president Peter Bodenmann assesses the situation after the Corona Leaks revelations in the current issue [paywalled] of the Weltwoche as follows: Ringier CEO Marc Walder moved more or less in lockstep with the Chinese Communist Party on the Corona issue. This was not at all in the interest of Alain Berset.
His head of communications Peter Lauener took on the role of therapist and did everything to calm Walder down. And this was done without violating official secrecy: ‘Because everyone who was interested knew everything anyway’, writes Bodenmann.
This raises the question: What did Alain Berset know about Lauener’s therapeutic treatment?
One thing is clear to SP strategist Bodenmann: Berset dropped Lauener to save his skin. So far, the SP management has not backed Lauener.
Bottom Lines: A Brief Assessment of the Swiss Situation
What will come out of these things is written in the stars. I suspect, however, that Berset will either find a ‘pawn’ (e.g., Lauener, ) or that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office will record the ‘skewed optics’—as in, e.g., this looks bad, but there’s insufficient hard evidence to go to trial.
With regard to the Parliamentary Committee of Enquiry, it should be noted that this is a good thing in any case. These commissions are generally of little use (and are therefore probably of more interest to historians like me), but they are at least indications that politicians are aware of the ‘skewed optics’.
To what extent pressure from the public or some media attention contributes to the notion of ‘getting to the bottom of this issue’, however, is another matter.
In short: it’s better than nothing, but not much more.