Jóannes Dan Eidesgaard (born 19 April 1951) is a former Faroese politician. He was the prime minister of the Faroe Islands from 2004, starting shortly after the general election of 20 January 2004, until 26 September 2008, when a new coalition took office. He served as finance minister from 1996 to 1998 and again from 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Danish Folketing representing the Faroe Islands from 11 March 1998 until 20 November 2001.

Life and political career

Jóannes Eidesgaard was born on 19 April 1951, in

Tvøroyri Tvøroyri is a village on the north side of the Trongisvágsfjørður on the east coast of Suðuroy island in the Faroe Islands. Together with Froðba, Trongisvágur, Líðin and Øravík it forms Tvøroyri Municipality. The village is considered ...

on the island of

Suðuroy Suðuroy (pronounced: �suːwʊrɔior �suːri ‘South Island’, ) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region ( sýsla) comprise ...

, where he later became a senior-school teacher. Eidesgaard was first elected to the

Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; ) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm. The name literally means "''Law Thing''"—that is, a law assembly—and derives from Old Norse ''lǫgþing ...

, the Faroese parliament, in 1990. Between 1991 and 1996 he was a Minister under different coalition governments, and from 1994 to 1996 he became

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

. In 1996 Eidesgaard became Party Chairman of the

Javnaðarflokkurin The Social Democratic Party (, , JF) (, JF) is a social democratic political party on the Faroe Islands, led by Aksel V. Johannesen. History The Social Democratic Party was founded on 25 September 1925 by members of Faroese trade unions. Its you ...

. In 1998, up until 2001, Eidesgaard was one of the two Faroese delegates in the

Parliament of Denmark The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

. On 3 February 2004 Jóannes Eidesgaard was elected

prime minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and therefore became head of the government in the Faroe Islands. He led a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

governmen

between the Union Party (Faroe Islands), Unionist Party, the People’s Party and the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. After the 2008 elections, he led a centre-left separatist government consisting of his Social Democratic Party, the pro-independence

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and the Centre Party. In September the coalition collapsed, and a new coalition between Union Party (Faroe Islands), Unionist Party, the People’s Party and the

was re-established on 24 September. As a result of the ongoing debates about who should be the new prime minister, Jóannes Eidesgaard decided to step down as prime minister to allow Kaj Leo Johannesen of the Unionist Party to assume that office as a compromise. Kaj Leo Johannesen assumed the office on 26 September. On 30 September 2008 shortly after making the 2009 Faroese budget public, Jóannes Eidesgaard was admitted to hospital after feeling chest pains. He recovered and continued his political work, but in 2011 he ended his political career.

External links

Homepage of the Faroese Government

Homepage of the Faroese Government

Føroya Javnaðarflokkurin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eidesgaard, Joannes 1951 births Living people Prime ministers of the Faroe Islands Finance ministers of the Faroe Islands Members of the Folketing Faroese members of the Folketing Members of the Løgting Social Democratic Party (Faroe Islands) politicians Ministers of culture of the Faroe Islands Health ministers of the Faroe Islands Ministers of social affairs of the Faroe Islands Deputy prime ministers of the Faroe Islands People from Tvøroyri