The holiday trip to the Canary Islands was the fall of Dan Eliasson.

Firstly, that he, as head of the country's central crisis preparedness authority, in the middle of perhaps the worst crisis of our lives, chose to go on holiday abroad.

In addition, during a critical phase of this pandemic with extensive spread of infection and severely pressured healthcare.

Secondly, because Eliasson claimed that the holiday trip was "necessary".

It has created strong reactions among many who have felt that they themselves have been forced to give up a lot in order to comply with the government's and the authorities' advice and recommendations.

There was no alternative

The storm of criticism has grown sharply in recent days and despite the fact that Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg called Dan Eliasson to a meeting tomorrow Thursday, the news of his resignation came today.

Dan Eliasson's situation had simply become unsustainable.

There was no alternative to a departure.

Confidence in Eliasson was severely damaged and it also spilled over to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB.

For the government, the issue was also becoming an increasing problem.

Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson and KD leader Ebba Busch demanded Eliasson's resignation on Tuesday.

On Friday, the Riksdag will take a position on the government's proposal for a new pandemic law, which will enter into force on Sunday.

For the government, it became increasingly important to be able to quickly put the scandal surrounding Eliasson behind them.

It is better to talk about efforts to limit the continued spread of infection than to answer questions about Dan Eliasson's holiday in the Canary Islands.

May keep their salary for two years

It also became increasingly important for MSB that Eliasson resigned.

The agency has a central role in the continued work against the pandemic and has been hit hard by the growing criticism of its director general.

As Eliasson has now resigned, conditions are created for a new director general to be able to restore the authority's disgraced reputation.

But it will probably take time and MSB will suffer the consequences for another time.

For the government, however, Dan Eliasson will continue to be a concern.

As CEO, he has a fixed-term appointment until 31 December 2022. This means that he may keep his salary for the entire period, regardless of duties.

Dismissing a director general presupposes a violation of the law or a very serious violation of the rules in the performance of his duties.

Eliasson's holiday trip can admittedly be seen as an example of a lack of judgment in a difficult time, but it is hardly a crime.

Has diverted attention from ministers

For the government, at the same time, the attention around Eliasson has meant that the debate about the ministers' Christmas shopping has fallen silent.

Criticism of, for example, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's visit to the Gallerian in Stockholm or Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson's queuing during the midday sale in Lund has been completely pushed aside from the public debate.

Now that Dan Eliasson has resigned, these issues will probably be raised again, but not at all with the same force as the questioning of Eliasson's actions.

The explanation is very simple.

Many politicians in other parties have also visited shopping malls and shops, despite the government's and the authorities' advice not to.

This makes it much more difficult for them to criticize the ministers for this action.