Columns There were no scandals with the new Swedish ministers, as the ministers admitted their own violations

When Sweden finally got its government and its first female prime minister, it was time for recognition.

Swedish afternoon newspapers asked the new demarine ministers if there were any skeletons in their closets.

And that’s what the ministers started to introduce.

I tested cocaine in the 1980s, admitted the new Minister of Agriculture, Anna-Caren Sätherberg.

Sätherberg said he worked in the restaurant industry in the 1980s, where cocaine was circulating and many were hooked on the drug. Sätherberg said she is not proud of her experiments, but is grateful that cocaine use remained at the experimental stage.

The new Minister for Housing, Johan Danielsson, spoke about his drunk driving conviction, which he received when he was under twenty. The driver’s license went dry, and Danielsson said he had learned from his mistakes.

Energy and Digitalisation Minister Khashayar Farmanbar admitted he had received black money: he received a DJ fee of SEK 2,000 from the nightclub, and of course no taxes were paid.

New ones ministers will, of course, have a hard time coming to power, and exposing past violations may be a good idea. This way, they may not form a commotion, as they could if revealed by some other route.

However, one revelation to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet was: the new climate minister, Annika Strandhäll, who had previously served as minister, had failed to pay the bills.

Among other things, a reduction of less than 100 euros for filling the swimming pool had progressed. Strandhäll was not aware of the bills, but paid them immediately after the news. She had an understandable explanation for her oblivion: her husband committed suicide in the fall of 2019, which made the family frustrated.

Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson immediately said that Strandhäll still enjoys her confidence.

Real no rumors or scandals were thus revealed about the new Swedish ministers. However, they are being born and are being born more and more often. According to a Nordic study, the number of political scandals has increased in the 21st century compared to the 1990s and 1980s. There have been more of them in Sweden than in the other Nordic countries.

What was interesting about the study was that scandals were less and less likely to lead to politicians resigning or being fired.

The author is HS’s Stockholm correspondent.