Slow ministry staff land Bildt in hot water
The head of Sweden's parliamentary committee on justice has reported Foreign Minister Carl Bildt to the Riksdag's constitutional watchdog, accusing his ministry of stalling the handover of documents meant to be made public swiftly.
Social Democrat MP Morgan Johansson is responsible for the high-level complaint against Moderate politician Carl Bildt. Johansson claims that the foreign ministry failed to act quickly and share information about an aid project in Iraq, which was being managed by persons tied to government coalition partner the Centre Party.
"It is completely unacceptable that it should take the government three months to act on a request for documents that are public," Johansson told Sveriges Radio (SR). "Unfortunately, we see that the government systematically disregards the right to information law (offentlighetsprincipen)."
The opposition parliamentarian has now chosen to take the matter to the parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs (Konstitutionsutskottet - KU), which examines whether lawmakers act in accordance with the Swedish constitution and which has the power to prosecute a minister or an MP.
KU has on several previous occasions made the foreign ministry the target of criticism in relation to how its staff deal with requests to access documents.
KU will decide whether to look into Johansson's complaint in the spring of 2014.
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Social Democrat MP Morgan Johansson is responsible for the high-level complaint against Moderate politician Carl Bildt. Johansson claims that the foreign ministry failed to act quickly and share information about an aid project in Iraq, which was being managed by persons tied to government coalition partner the Centre Party.
"It is completely unacceptable that it should take the government three months to act on a request for documents that are public," Johansson told Sveriges Radio (SR). "Unfortunately, we see that the government systematically disregards the right to information law (offentlighetsprincipen)."
The opposition parliamentarian has now chosen to take the matter to the parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs (Konstitutionsutskottet - KU), which examines whether lawmakers act in accordance with the Swedish constitution and which has the power to prosecute a minister or an MP.
KU has on several previous occasions made the foreign ministry the target of criticism in relation to how its staff deal with requests to access documents.
KU will decide whether to look into Johansson's complaint in the spring of 2014.
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