Jan Olov Karlsson (1 June 1939 – 19 September 2016) was a Swedish politician; former Minister for Development Cooperation, Migration and Asylum Policy (2002-2003) and acting Minister for Foreign Affairs (11 September-10 October 2003), following the murder of

Anna Lindh Ylva Anna Maria Lindh (19 June 1957 – 11 September 2003) was a Swedish Social Democratic politician and lawyer who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until her death. She was also a Member of the Riksdag (member of parliament) f ...

. He also served as President of the

European Court of Auditors The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members ( ...

Career

Jan O. Karlsson studied economics, political science and history at Stockholm University, before becoming an undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture in 1962. In 1968 he transferred to the Office of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

where he worked as an advisor. From 1973 he served as secretary to the Deputy Mayor of Stockholm and in 1977 he became the deputy secretary for the presidency of the Nordic Council. Following the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

in 1982 when the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

returned to power he was made state secretary at the Ministry of Finance. Following the election in 1988 he was instead made chairman for the government commission of inquiry on metropolitan areas, and in 1990 once again advisor and coordinator at the prime minister's Office. Between 1991 and 1994 when the Social Democrats were in opposition Karlsson worked as an advisor for the party

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

group. In the autumn of 1994 the Swedes went to the ballot box on two occasions. The first swept the Social Democrats back to power and in the second Sweden joined the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. As a consequence of this Jan O. Karlsson was nominated by the Swedish Government as its representative to the

in 1995, and on 18 January 1999 he became President of the Court. As the head of a principal organ in the European Union he held one of the most senior position within the European Union, number five in the top hierarchy. He held this position until 31 December 2001 when he resigned after being offered a cabinet post. He died on 19 September 2016 at the age of 77.

Minister

Jan O. Karlsson's tenure as minister was far from smooth, his relation with the local press was troublesome, often attributed to his late father, who also was a high ranking social democratic politician, who died of a heart attack during an interview with a journalist. In spite of a number of minor political scandals – he, among other things, referred to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

as "that damn Texan geezer" ("''den där jävla texasgubben''") and abruptly murmured (with a microphone attached to his jacket) "now we better see an end to these fag issues" (''nu får det väl vara slut på de här bögfrågorna'') during a SIDA conference"Jan O Karlsson trött på bögfrågor"
/ref> – he was able to maintain the trust of prime minister

Göran Persson Hans Göran Persson (; born 20 January 1949) is a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Persson was first elected to the Swedish Parliam ...

and keep his place in the Cabinet. His appointment as acting Minister for Foreign Affairs following the death of

on 11 September 2003, was a short-term solution. Changes in government, effective on 10 October the same year, forced him to resign his post.

References

Jan O. Karlsson at European Court of Auditors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsson, Jan O. 1939 births 2016 deaths Swedish Ministers for Foreign Affairs Swedish Ministers for International Development Cooperation 21st-century Swedish politicians Politicians from Stockholm Swedish Social Democratic Party politicians Stockholm University alumni European Court of Auditors