Jaime Gama

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Jaime Gama on a visit to Brasília , 2008

Jaime José Matos da Gama (born June 8, 1947 in Fajã de Baixo , São Miguel , Azores ) is a Portuguese politician.

Studies and first political activities

Gama graduated in philosophy at the University of Lisbon . As a student, he took part in protests against the policies of the fascist Estado Novo regime under António de Oliveira Salazar and was arrested for the first time in 1965 at the age of eighteen because of an article in a local newspaper. In 1969 he belonged to the opposition alliance CEUD, which, however, was defeated in the parliamentary elections against the National Union under Salazar's successor, Marcelo Caetano , due to electoral fraud. He then worked as a journalist for the opposition daily República and one of the co-founders of the Socialist Party ( Partido Socialista ) on April 19, 1973 in German exile in Bad Münstereifel .

Minister and President of Parliament

Since 1975 Gama belongs to the Assembly of the Republic ( Assembleia da República ). There he represented the interests of the Azores until 1983 and since then the city of Lisbon .

After the end of the authoritarian regime, he briefly belonged to the second cabinet of Prime Minister Mário Soares in 1978 as Minister of Internal Administration.

From June 9, 1983 to November 6, 1985 he was Portuguese Foreign Minister in the third cabinet of Soares . He held the post of foreign minister also dated 30 October 1995 to 6 April 2002, the second Cabinet of António Guterres . In this capacity he was also President of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2000 and from January 1 to April 6, 2002 acting Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ). This office, which lasts for one calendar year, was taken over by his successor as Foreign Minister António Martins da Cruz for the remainder of 2002 . On March 10, 2001, he was one of the signatories to the Treaty of Nice , which amended the Maastricht Treaty to the extent that European Union decisions only require a qualified majority instead of the previous unanimity .

He was also Minister of National Defense for a short period from May 29, 1999 to October 25, 1999 and Minister of State from October 25, 1999 to April 6, 2002. He turned down an offer to succeed Guterres as Prime Minister.

In March 2005, Gama was elected President of Parliament, making him the second most powerful man in Portugal according to the constitution, after President Aníbal Cavaco Silva . In this capacity, on November 22, 2005, he awarded the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe to the Irish musician Bob Geldof .

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Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bob Geldof receives human rights award , Kölnische Rundschau , November 22, 2005

Biographical sources


Background information

Commons : Jaime Gama  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Gama, Jaime
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gama, Jaime José Matos da (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Fajã de Baixo , Sao Miguel , Azores