Following the devastating bar fire in Crans-Montana, many Swiss citizens are questioning the suitability of their political system.
Switzerland, often praised for its efficiency, has a very developed system of government, in which villages and towns are run by local officials elected by the community.
This is a system that the Swiss people value because they believe it ensures accountability.
But there are inherent vulnerabilities; hypothetically, the official approving a bar license or passing a fire safety check is a friend, neighbour, or perhaps even a cousin of the bar owner.
When the news of the fire came out on New Year’s Eve, there was panic at first. People thought that such a devastating fire should not happen in Switzerland.
This tragedy resulted in the deaths of 40 young people.
Then tragedy struck, resulting in the deaths of 40 young people and the serious injuries of 116 others. Questions arose – what caused such devastation?
And finally, this week – fury came when Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud revealed that Le Constellation bar had not been inspected since 2019.
Crans-Montana is in the Swiss canton of Valais, where fire-safety inspections are the responsibility of Mayor Feraud and his colleagues, and they must take place every 12 months.
The mayor said he only became aware of the lack of investigation after the fire occurred. He revealed that only 40 out of the 128 bars and restaurants in Crans-Montana had undergone inspection in 2025.
When asked why, Feraud had no answer, although he suggested that Crans-Montana has too few inspectors for the amount of properties that need to be inspected.
This point was echoed by Romy Binner, mayor of the neighbouring upmarket resort of Zermatt, who told local media that many communities in the canton of Valais did not have the resources needed to inspect so many premises. This is not a line that sits well with many Swiss people, who know that Crans-Montana and Zermatt are two of the richest winter resorts in the country.
So when Ferud faced the press, Swiss journalists had sharp questions: How well did the mayor know the bar’s owners? Had he ever been to a bar? And was there any possibility of corruption?
“Not at all,” was his indignant reply to the last question.
The mother of the two brothers who survived the fire also had questions in her mind. “We need full, transparent answers immediately,” he wrote on social media.
When they escaped the burning bar, each of his sons at first thought the other was dead.
“They survived, but they are deeply traumatised. They will carry emotional scars with them forever.”
Those questions from journalists and families highlight problems with Switzerland’s evolving political system.
Elected officials in cities like Crans-Montana have many responsibilities in addition to fire protection – running schools and social services, even collecting taxes.
Most of these officers work part-time and, once selected, continue their daily jobs.
These days some communes may be extremely challenged to supply and maintain all the services a 21st-century population expects, but Swiss voters expect better from what they hear from Mayor Feraud.
The headlines after his press conference were extremely sensational. Many people called for Mayor Feraud and his colleagues to resign. Feroud rejected such allegations saying, “We have been elected by the people. You can’t abandon ship in the middle of a storm.”
Broadsheet Tagesanzeiger wrote, “A complete failure.” “Now Switzerland’s reputation is at stake.”
“An utter disaster,” wrote the tabloid Blick, “a complete failure of fire safety checks.”
Reputational damage is something the Swiss both hate and fear. Switzerland is a prosperous country due to its reputation for security, stability, reliability and accountability among its citizens.
If those responsible damage their reputation and jeopardise the country’s success, the Swiss will not forgive.
Two decades ago, a shocking incident occurred when the much-loved national airline Swissair went bankrupt.
Swissair’s management, once affectionately nicknamed the “Flying Bank”, had made a series of risky financial investments that left the airline dangerously afloat.
In 2008, the banking giant UBS, in which many Swiss, especially pensioners, held shares, had to be bailed out by Swiss taxpayers to prevent not only its collapse but also disastrous consequences for the global economy.
Outrage spread when the bank’s negligent overperformance towards subprime mortgages came to light. That year, the typically silent senior shareholders began jeering loudly during the bank’s annual general meeting.
One climbed onto the stage and demanded management give up their generous bonuses, ironically waving a string of Swiss bratwurst under his nose “if you go hungry.”
Crans-Montana has aroused the same bitter feeling of betrayal. But it is much worse than Swissair or UBS. Forty people, many of whom were teenagers, are dead. Dozens of people have suffered life-changing injuries.
Swiss officials know they need answers soon.
At Friday’s memorial service, Valais President Mathias Renard broke into tears as he promised a “strict and independent” investigation, warning that “relevant political officials” would be held accountable.
Guy Parmelin, the President of Switzerland, expressed his expectation for swift and uncompromising justice.
A criminal investigation has taken the bar owner into custody, and it is certain to probe the local government’s role as well. There are already calls in the Valais canton for the transfer of fire-safety oversight from local city councils to cantonal authorities.
A lawyer representing some of the families, Romain Jordan, has announced plans to file a case against the Cross-Montana city council. The families are demanding that all local authorities be questioned, he said, so that such a tragedy never happens again.
An intense, nationwide introspection is also underway. The Swiss want to know why their beloved developed system, which many people, perhaps complacently, thought was perfect, went so catastrophically wrong.
In the first hours after the fire, many people felt shock and sadness as well as a quiet pride that their emergency services had responded so quickly.
Firefighters, ambulance crews and even helicopters reached the scene within minutes. Emergency services were present at the memorial service. Many people cried openly.
The shock and grief still run deep, but the pride is gone.
What good are top-class, highly professional emergency services if they neglect basic fire safety checks? the Swiss are asking themselves.
Switzerland’s government says finding answers is a moral responsibility – first of all to families, but also to its voters.
