The Alliance parties voice distrust, government crisis could be next as millions of Swedish citizens' confidential information may have been exposed through subcontracting IT operations.
While the government convenes at the headquarters at Rosenbad in Stockholm, Swedish media speculates about the government leaving or that the Prime Minister could call for an extra election.
Prime Minister Löfven has called for a press conference on Thursday at 10 a.m. Swedish time (4 a.m. EST) to address the government's position.
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After coming under heavy pressure, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven confirmed at a press conference on July 24 that his administration may have exposed millions of Swedish citizens’ confidential information in an “extremely serious” leak of confidential information.
The breach in security began in September of 2015 in a botched outsourcing agreement by the country’s transport agency (transportstyrelsen) which hired IBM to take over its IT operations. IBM used subcontractors in several eastern European countries, potentially exposing an entire database on Swedish drivers' licenses and possibly military personnel information and plans.
Although it does not appear confidential information has been compromised, it is one of the largest breaches of government information in Sweden in decades and may threaten the Social Democrat-led coalition. But Löfven said the public is entitled to a comprehensive account of what happened as opposition politicians on the parliamentary defense and justice committees emphasized that some ministers — Minister for Home Affairs Anders Ygeman and Minister for Defense, Peter Hultqvist — knew about the suspicions in early 2016, while Infrastructure Minister Anna Johansson and Prime Minister Löfven were not informed until January this year.
"Naturally, I would have liked to get the information earlier," Löfven told reporters. "What happened was an accident. It is very serious and a breach of law."
The opposition parties are aligned in expecting at least one of the involved ministers to be fired after the scandal but Löfven had by July 26 not taken any drastic actions. The Alliance of the Liberals, the Moderate party, Center and Christian Democrats voiced distrust for the three involved ministers, Ygeman, Johansson and Hultqvist, demanding the Speaker of Parliament to call for an extra session to handle their request.
