In the summer of 2023, one of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's daughters invited her student association to a private "kick-off" at Harpsund, Aftonbladet reported on Wednesday morning.
Pictures from the event show guests toasting on the pier and drinking boxed wine on the estate's veranda.
This summer, Harpsund was used in a similar way. When the Prime Minister's sister-in-law turned 70, it was celebrated at the manor, reports Svenska Dagbladet . Pictures from the party have been posted on Kristersson's wife Birgitta Ed's Instagram profile.
Harpsund was bequeathed to the state in 1952 by the cork and linoleum manufacturer Carl August Wicander. The condition was that it would be the prime minister's recreational and official residence. The following year, the gift was accepted by a parliamentary decision, with the addition that the estate could also be used by the government, parliament, organizations and associations for meetings and conferences.
“Completely private nature”
Olle Lundin, professor of administrative law, is doubtful whether the donor intended that Harpsund could also be used for private parties where the prime minister's children invited others.
– It is obvious that the donor wanted it to be aimed at the Prime Minister and the government, that there should be a place to be for representation and recreation. But this is some kind of student party of a completely private nature. That was probably not what he had in mind and wanted to achieve, Lundin tells Aftonbladet about the first-mentioned incident.
The Prime Minister's deputy press secretary, Hanna Strömberg, writes on X that the chief lawyers at the Government Offices have made it clear that no wrongdoing was committed when the Prime Minister's daughter invited friends to Harpsund.
"Shame!" she writes, addressing Aftonbladet.
"There are no guidelines that regulate how the Prime Minister and his family may use Harpsund," the Government Offices' press service writes in a comment to the newspaper.
Erased
The Social Democrats' labor market policy spokesperson Ardalan Shekarabi believes that Ulf Kristersson as Prime Minister does not live up to the values that people in government service should follow, which he himself helped develop during his time as Minister of Civil Service.
He points to the recruitment of childhood friend Henrik Landerholm as national security advisor, Birgitta Ed's dinner for former students at Sagerska House to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a private school in Strängäs, and his daughter's party as three examples.
This risks, he says, blurring the line between public and private.
"It is important that trust in the state always comes first," Shekarabi writes to TT.
