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Federal Councilor Albert Rösti and Roli Eberhart from the Calimeros on January 2, 2023 in the village square of Uetendorf BE, where Rösti was welcomed by the villagers as Federal Councilor.
Flavia SchlittlerDeputy Head of Department People
With pop music, Federal Councilor Albert Rösti (55) gets in the mood for swaying and singing. This was also the case on January 2, when he was honored in his home town of Uetendorf BE on the village square and Roli Eberhart (66) from the Calimeros intoned “Röschti du bisch z’Gröschti” – the song that the front man of the most successful hit trio of the Switzerland composed in honor of the new Federal Council. The two have been friends for 20 years.
Because Eberhart’s bandmates were ill, he wanted to sing the song alone. “But things turned out differently,” says Eberhart and laughs. Because with the encore, Albert Rösti, who should only have been on stage at the end of the song, sang along at the top of his lungs.
Music video clicked more than 10,000 times
Councilor Samuel Krähenbühl (45) recorded the event on video and shared it via social media. So far it has been clicked more than 10,000 times. The fact that the Federal Council joins in its own song of praise and sings that it is the greatest should be taken with humor, says Eberhart – he was simply so moved and would have spontaneously sung along with everyone.
“Albert is the last to applaud himself,” says the musician, who once met Rösti at a village school festival. He has an open ear for everyone, is cheerful, decent and close to the people.
Even on the 90th birthday of Eberhart’s mother Rösli, on October 27, 2022, he, who was still mayor at the time, paid his respects in a good mood and with a Black Forest cake. “At the time, he also told us at the table that he really wanted to be elected to the Federal Council, even if, as a realist, he was aware that things could turn out differently.”
Not with shorts
Eberhart will not forget this confession any more than the Flumserberg Open-Air at the end of July 2022, where the Calimeros performed. When Rösti and his wife Theres (48) stopped by the merchandising stand, she said, according to Eberhart: “Look, the cool Calimeros shorts.” Because it was so warm that day, she would have bought Rösti and put them on immediately.
SonntagsBlick has a photographic evidence. But Albert Rösti doesn’t want it published, which Roli Eberhart understands: “He doesn’t want it to be said that the Federal Councilor is posing in swimming trunks.” He does have a sense of humor, but his new role has changed a lot. “But one thing remains: he is a good friend, a politician close to the people and a man who will certainly be seen with a pitchfork in his garden next summer.”