I was disappointed to read about the government appointment of a new County Governor for the County Administrative Board for the County of Stockholm.

The new County Governor from the turn of the year will be Per Unckel, a veteran of the Moderate party who left party work after the large loss in 2002.

The news of his appointment was a mere statement of fact. I would have expected some comments on this, since it goes against the message during the election campaign.

The hope was that the new government would change from the habit of appointing old politicians, preferrably from the own political domain, to a more open system of appointment based on merit.

Granted, the County Governor is supposed to be the government’s local representative, but even so, there has been campaigning, e.g. from the Moderates [1][2], for a different system.

From the Constitution RF 11:9

A post at a court or administrative authority directly subordinate to the government shall be appointed by the government, or by an authority directly subordinate to the government.

At the appointment to a government post, only impartial grounds, such as merits and skills, shall be considered.

[…]

Per Unckel may have the merits and skills, but the list of current County Governors does not ring of impartiality. Now we have yet another appointment in line with the bad old tradition.