The Swedish government's investigator, former Court of Appeal judge Krister Thelin, believes Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson must step down following the scandal involving National Security Adviser Henrik Landerholm.
Instead, he believes that Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) should take over and lead the party and the country.
Thelin, a member of the Moderate Party, is currently investigating the possibility of a national ban on begging on behalf of the government and has previously contributed to several inquiries. However, he argues that the indictment against Kristersson’s childhood friend and handpicked security adviser Henrik Landerholm is so serious that the prime minister can no longer remain in office.
Landerholm, responsible for coordinating and analyzing national security, is facing charges of negligence with classified information after leaving security-classified documents in an unlocked cabinet in a training room.
It has also emerged that he recruited staff without conducting security checks, left his mobile phone at a foreign embassy, and sent sensitive notes with a taxi driver after losing his notebook at Sweden’s national radio headquarters.
"Benefits neither the party nor Kristersson"
Krister Thelin believes that the poor judgment was so serious and the scandal of such magnitude that it does not matter if Landerholm is eventually acquitted in court – Ulf Kristersson should still take responsibility and step aside.
– Regardless of how Landerholm was appointed, the fact that he is now under indictment is something that does not just disappear, he says to the Bonnier newspaper Expressen.
He points out that the Landerholm affair will negatively affect Swedes' confidence in the Moderate Party for a long time to come – and risks damaging the party during the election campaign next year.
– Walking around with this albatross around your neck, all the time from now until the election, it benefits neither the party nor Kristersson, he continues, suggesting instead that Gunnar Strömmer "in an orderly manner" take over.
Prognosen att Landerholmaffären kommer att, likt en albatross om halsen, tynga @SwedishPM har onekligen fog för sig enligt följande tidaxel. "På torsdagen meddelade Attunda tingsrätt att rättegången mot Landerholm, som bara en vecka tidigare hade meddelats skulle påbörjas i maj,…
— Krister Thelin (@KristerThelin) March 24, 2025
Accuses Moderate leadership of hypocrisy
Thelin notes that the Moderates in particular have long criticized previous governments for engaging in nepotism or appointing incompetent people – and that they therefore have a responsibility not to act as indiscriminately themselves.
– The Moderates should be especially cautious in appointment matters, as they have, rightfully, criticized previous governments for failing to prioritize meritocracy and instead engaging in cronyism. Now they are doing the same thing. It’s not a good look.
However, the M leader seems to have no plans to comply with the resignation demand, with deputy party secretary Martin Borg commenting that "what individuals think is up to them".
"It was Ulf Kristersson who secured a majority to restore order in Sweden and is now carrying out a paradigm shift in Swedish politics", it further claims.
