The actions demonstrate a lack of respect for fundamental rules that exist to maintain the public's trust in the public sector, according to the Parliamentary Ombudsman Per Lennerbrant.
What makes it so serious is that it's not just one, but three cases, where the actions are similar, he says.
Anna Kinberg Batra took office as Governor in March last year. After revelations in Aftonbladet and TV4 News about irregularities in the hiring of three people at the County Administrative Board – a planning manager, an organizational developer, and a preparedness manager – the Parliamentary Ombudsman initiated an investigation.
Broke constitutional requirements
He now finds that the constitutional requirements for objectivity were not respected by Anna Kinberg Batra in any of the procedures. In two cases – the planning manager and the organizational developer – she had already decided who would be hired.
That you hand-pick people in advance without knowing who else might be qualified, that's not how our state employment process should work, period.
Regarding one of them, she was also biased, as she is the godmother of the person's child.
Went against
In the third case, Anna Kinberg Batra hired a person who did not meet the requirements for an academic degree – despite the County Director and HR Manager saying that the person should not be considered for the position.
Her two closest colleagues in these types of matters explicitly advised her against doing so, says Lennerbrant.
Anna Kinberg Batra tells TT that she acknowledges she made mistakes but has no plans to resign.
I have failed on these three points. I accept that criticism. But my task is still to build a stronger Stockholm.
She is primarily sorry about how her actions have affected others, she says.
It's other people who have had it tough and problems because of the mistakes I've made. I think that's the worst.
She says that the County Administrative Board has initiated several processes to develop its operations and that she herself must work hard to regain trust. She is aware of the internal criticism and says that she now wants to create better dialogue going forward.
When asked if she has considered resigning, she says:
Yes, you think about it sometimes. Partly in the spring when the criticism first came and now today. But I have been given an important task that I feel strongly about and where I believe there is still much to be done.
