It was at the end of March that Aftonbladet revealed that Stockholm’s governor Anna Kinberg Batra had hired two people, one of whom is a close friend, to high-ranking positions within the county administration in Stockholm.
– I take on board the criticism that has come. It’s a crisis, it’s a crisis of confidence, says Anna Kinberg Batra and continues:
– But I also want to be clear that it would be terrible if I dragged in a group of friends anyway.
The job went to a close friend
The recruitments concern a planning manager and an organizational manager. One position was not advertised at all, the other was advertised on a notice board in reception – which was applied for by a single person.
The person in question is a close friend of Kinberg Batra. Kinberg Batra is also godmother to one of the friend’s children.
– Now in retrospect, it is easy to say that I was in too much of a hurry, she says.
“Does not conflict with the regulation”
Since Kinberg Batra is friends with the head of planning, which she has been open about all along, she says, it was extra important to advertise the position.
– What is stated in the basic rule is that you must announce in the appropriate form.
The fact that the ad was put up in reception was perhaps not “appropriate enough”, she says.
– But it does not contradict the regulation.
According to Kinberg Batra, it is about a number of misconceptions regarding the recruitment process, but she welcomes JO’s review.
“Want to apologize”
Competence comes before everything else, says Kinberg Batra, who would have liked to see more applicants in the case.
– I would like to apologize for that. It would have been better for the incredibly competent person if there had been more competitors. I’m sure she would have done very well in competition as well.