Swedish ministers quit amid 'IT scandal'

By Atila Altuntas

STOCKHOLM

Sweden’s premier on Thursday confirmed three of his ministers have resigned amid an IT scandal gripping the Scandinavian country.

Stefan Lofven told a news conference in the prime ministry building in Stockholm that the ministers, who were facing a possible vote of confidence by opposition parties, had stepped down.

Lofven said that Anders Ygeman, home affairs minister, and Anna Johansson, infrastructure minister, quit because of opposition criticism while Gabriel Wikstrom, the health minister, stepped down for private reasons.

The premier added that Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist -- another government figure facing opposition anger -- had not resigned.

Lofven said the ministers had not wanted to continue due to political tension coming from a gaffe involving the Swedish Transport Agency which leaked secret state information into a cloud system.

According to state broadcaster SVT, the records of vehicles belonging to police and army personnel, and the names of air force pilots were leaked to some Eastern European states.

By Atila Altuntas

STOCKHOLM

Sweden’s premier on Thursday confirmed three of his ministers have resigned amid an IT scandal gripping the Scandinavian country.

Stefan Lofven told a news conference in the prime ministry building in Stockholm that the ministers, who were facing a possible vote of confidence by opposition parties, had stepped down.

The premier added that Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist -- another government figure facing opposition anger -- had not resigned.

Lofven said the ministers had not wanted to continue due to political tension coming from a gaffe involving the Swedish Transport Agency which leaked secret state information into a cloud system.

According to state broadcaster SVT, the records of vehicles belonging to police and army personnel, and the names of air force pilots were leaked to some Eastern European states.