At the request of the Speaker of the Riksdag, the monarch opens the annual session of the Riksdag () in the chamber of the Riksdag building. The king or queen regnant also receives Letters of Credence of foreign ambassadors sent to Sweden and signs those of Swedish ambassadors sent abroad. The monarch also chairs the Cabinet Council () in a session that establishes the new government following a general election or major cabinet reshuffle and also chairs information councils () approximately four times a year to get information from the assembled Government, apart from that given by ministers in individual audiences or through other means. Formally, it is the explicit responsibility of the prime minister to keep the monarch informed on the affairs of the realm; the failure to do so following the 2004 tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean (in which many Swedes perished) gave rise to wide criticism of Prime Minister Göran Persson for his handling of the matter. The monarch also chairs the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs (), a body that enables the government of the day to inform not only the head of state, but also the speaker and representatives of the opposition parties in the Riksdag, on foreign affairs issues in a confidential manner.