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This summer is red Justice Minister Morgan Johansson (S) appropriately. A big celebrity party had been held in Båstad. “It is deeply inappropriate if people end up very close to each other,” the minister said, adding that it is not just about the risk of spreading corona infection, but also about “what signals do you send to the outside world” (Aftonbladet 6 / 7).
But now he himself has fallen there. Just before Christmas, the Swedish Public Health Agency requested that the store cancel the noon sale. In an interview with SVT, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said that “everyone” naturally understands that we cannot have a sale at noon as we usually do. That didn’t stop Morgan Johansson from finding a bargain at the Nova shopping center in Lund on the second day.
Johansson confirms that she has gone shopping. He himself says that there was no congestion, but that he could have planned the purchase better (SVT 12/27).
Of course, the minister received widespread criticism. “So bloody disloyal to everyone else who behaves,” wrote the leader of the group of moderates, Tobias Billström, on Twitter. “He should have surrendered … These are the signals you send as a politically elected and responsible minister,” commented political scientist Ulf Bjereld. “A minister who does not relate to the restrictions and recommendations that exist does not feel more appropriate,” virus researcher Joakim Esbjörnsson-Klemendz told SVT. Stefan Löfven thought it was an “oversight”.
One can think which is silly. Morgan Johansson has not broken the law. It is likely that the Minister’s round of purchases is neither towards nor from the full spread of the infection.
But it is probably not the seriousness of the action that is disturbing. If there’s one thing Swedish politicians can’t do, it’s circumvent the common rules, even when it comes to petitesser.
Two moderates in the first Reinfeldt government, Cecilia Stegö Chilò and Maria Borelius, only had time to be ministers for a few days before they were allowed to resign. Both had hired black cleaning help and ignored the television license payment. Then-V leader Gudrun Schyman had to resign in 2003 because she toyed with the deduction in the statement. Håkan Juholt’s letting the Riksdag pay the rent for the apartment contributed to his downfall as S-leader. Former high school minister Aida Hadzialic had to leave the government after driving a car with 0.2 per thousand alcohol in her blood.
The most notable story is probably the Toblerone deal when Mona Sahlin used the state’s credit card for private purchases. She was forced to resign.
There is nothing which reduces the public’s trust in common rules so much that ministers and other dignitaries of society are perceived as foolish. In the late 2000s, a government investigation was conducted on public attitudes toward grant cheating. The conclusion was that the greatest phenomenon of moral degradation are politicians who ignore the general rules.
Swedes have a fairly high tolerance for being misled by politicians. During the crown crisis, Stefan Löfven has repeatedly said that the public “must be sharpened.” Politicians can engage in social engineering according to the motto “private is political.” But if the politicians themselves let go of morals in their own private lives, the public’s judgment is severe.
Too difficult, you might think. Anyone can make mistakes. But basically it is an idea of equality. Politicians shouldn’t think they are superior to the rest of us.
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