Åmål's municipal commander does not have any work instructions, which violates the law. This was the Provincial newspaper Dalsland first to tell.
The instruction to the municipal manager is a list of duties, and an important reason for the requirement being introduced into the law on January 1, 2018 was to clarify the dividing line between politics and administration. A commander in chief is an unpolitical service.
Now the Municipality of Åmål has produced a proposal for instruction for the new municipal manager. It says:
"The municipal director may, on behalf of the chair of the municipal council, represent the person where needed."
Former Social Democratic politicianAnders Sandén has previously been the chairman of the municipal council in Sigtuna. He has also been a member of the Social Democrats' central party board in Stockholm.
But for the municipality's highest official, this is a very inappropriate wording, says Jan Turvall, associate professor at the University of Gothenburg and expert in administrative law.
- That is the basis of our democracy, that we go and vote. And then we must know. We can vote for political opinions, but we cannot vote for an official's way of doing his job. So it is an important dividing line between politics and administration, says Jan Turvall.
"Highly doubtful"Commander Anders Sandén also thinks the wording is problematic.
- I haven't seen that wording. It is not me who wrote the instruction.
Would you be prepared to step into the chair?
- I think it's highly questionable. Not in any political position or political assignment. To represent the municipality in this context is not possible. But it is about representation or courting, or in the meeting with some association, then I think it can go well, says Anders Sandén, who also says that he requested an instruction already when he was interviewed for the service.
The Municipality of Åmål has declined to comment on the instruction, citing that the matter has been reported to the administrative court by the opposition.