Bildt: Danielsson lied to enquiry
Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt has called on Göran Persson's most senior aide, Lars Danielsson, to be punished for lying to an official enquiry.
"If we had the same rules for public enquiries and investigations as they have in the United States, the prime minister's state secretary would probably be on his way to jail."
Bildt, who led Sweden from 1991-94, wrote in Svenska Dagbladet that Danielsson's evidence to last year's tsunami enquiry has now been proven to be false:
"We must now assume that state secretary Lars Danielsson clearly and knowingly lied to the commission."
Danielsson told the enquiry that he had spoken to Hans Dahlgren, his counterpart at the Foreign Ministry, several times on the day of the disaster. It was later revealed that these calls had never taken place, something Danielsson has put down to a memory lapse.
His testimony that he went into the office on 26th December has also been called into question.
Bildt said he was surprised that the reaction to the inconsistencies in Danielsson's evidence had not been stronger.
"This is a question of whether we accept that lies are legitimate in our political system," he wrote.
The former prime minister said he was not demanding that Danielsson face criminal charges, which he said would not be in accordance with the way the Swedish system works. But, he said, there should be "clear consequences" for Persson's aide.
The Local
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"If we had the same rules for public enquiries and investigations as they have in the United States, the prime minister's state secretary would probably be on his way to jail."
Bildt, who led Sweden from 1991-94, wrote in Svenska Dagbladet that Danielsson's evidence to last year's tsunami enquiry has now been proven to be false:
"We must now assume that state secretary Lars Danielsson clearly and knowingly lied to the commission."
Danielsson told the enquiry that he had spoken to Hans Dahlgren, his counterpart at the Foreign Ministry, several times on the day of the disaster. It was later revealed that these calls had never taken place, something Danielsson has put down to a memory lapse.
His testimony that he went into the office on 26th December has also been called into question.
Bildt said he was surprised that the reaction to the inconsistencies in Danielsson's evidence had not been stronger.
"This is a question of whether we accept that lies are legitimate in our political system," he wrote.
The former prime minister said he was not demanding that Danielsson face criminal charges, which he said would not be in accordance with the way the Swedish system works. But, he said, there should be "clear consequences" for Persson's aide.
The Local
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