Liberal party secretary resigns
One of the most senior officials in Sweden's Liberal Party resigned on Tuesday evening as a result of the scandal surrounding party staff accessing the Social Democrats' internal computer network.
The party admitted on Tuesday that senior officials had known in the spring that the secret log-in details to the governing party's intranet were circulating among staff. The party also admits using the information in campaigning.
Following the revelations party secretary Johan Jakobsson resigned on Tuesday evening. Jakobsson maintains that back in March he told Per Jodenius, the press secretary at the Liberal youth movement, to give details about what had happened to the press. Despite this, nothing emerged in the papers until the Social Democrats released it on Sunday night.
"My judgment is that it is best for the Liberal Party that I resign. Questions about why I didn't act more forcefully in March must not stand in the way of the important questions the election should be about," Jakobsson said in a press statement.
He said that he had agreed with party leader Lars Leijonborg that he should leave immediately. He also wrote that he still maintains that he bears no guilt for what happened, but that he should have acted when the information about Per Jodenius' actions did not emerge in the papers.
He said that pressure of work and his role as a father had led the matter to fall off his agenda.
The post of party secretary is one of the most important in the Liberal Party. The job brings overall responsibility for campaigning and party organization, and Jakobsson played a major role in the Liberals' election campaign.
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The party admitted on Tuesday that senior officials had known in the spring that the secret log-in details to the governing party's intranet were circulating among staff. The party also admits using the information in campaigning.
Following the revelations party secretary Johan Jakobsson resigned on Tuesday evening. Jakobsson maintains that back in March he told Per Jodenius, the press secretary at the Liberal youth movement, to give details about what had happened to the press. Despite this, nothing emerged in the papers until the Social Democrats released it on Sunday night.
"My judgment is that it is best for the Liberal Party that I resign. Questions about why I didn't act more forcefully in March must not stand in the way of the important questions the election should be about," Jakobsson said in a press statement.
He said that he had agreed with party leader Lars Leijonborg that he should leave immediately. He also wrote that he still maintains that he bears no guilt for what happened, but that he should have acted when the information about Per Jodenius' actions did not emerge in the papers.
He said that pressure of work and his role as a father had led the matter to fall off his agenda.
The post of party secretary is one of the most important in the Liberal Party. The job brings overall responsibility for campaigning and party organization, and Jakobsson played a major role in the Liberals' election campaign.
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