Jaime Gama
Jaime Gama | |
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| President of the Assembly of the Republic | |
| In office 16 March 2005 – 21 June 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Mota Amaral |
| Succeeded by | Maria da Assunção Esteves |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 9 June 1983 – 6 November 1985 | |
| Prime Minister | Mário Soares |
| Preceded by | Vasco Futscher Pereira |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Pires de Miranda |
| In office 28 October 1995 – 6 April 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | António Guterres |
| Preceded by | José Manuel Durão Barroso |
| Succeeded by | Teresa Gouveia |
| Member of the Assembly of the Republic | |
| In office 31 May 1983 – 20 June 2011 | |
| Constituency | Lisbon |
| In office 13 November 1980 – 31 May 1983 | |
| Constituency | Azores |
| In office 3 June 1976 – 13 November 1980 | |
| Constituency | Ponta Delgada |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 June 1947 Senhora da Rosa, Fajã de Baixo, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal |
| Political party | Socialist Party |
| Spouse | Alda Taborda |
| Alma mater | University of Lisbon |
| Profession | Philosopher, University Professor, Journalist |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Official website |
Jaime José de Matos da Gama, GCC, GCIH, GCL, GCMG (born Senhora da Rosa, Fajã de Baixo, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, 8 June 1947), is a former Portuguese politician. Jaime Gama is a Senior Strategic Counsel at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy and business advisory firm, and Chairman of the bank Novo Banco dos Açores.
Background
He is a son of Jaime da Rosa Ferreira da Gama (Matriz, Horta, Faial, Azores, January 1914 – Lisbon, 29 July 2003) and wife Lucília Vaz do Rego de Matos (São Sebastião, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, 12 September 1916 – Hospital Militar, Estrela, Lisbon, 21 September 1987).[1]
Political life
He graduated as a Licentiate in Philosophy from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. He was involved in the opposition to the fascist Estado Novo (New State) regime, since his youth, and was first arrested, aged only 18, due to an article published in the local press. He was a member of the socialist CEUD in the campaign for the 1969 legislative elections, won by the National Union (the regime party), due to massive fraud. He was a journalist of the opposition newspaper República, in the last years of the fascist regime.
He was a founder of the Socialist Party, in the German exile of Bad-Munstereifel. He was elected for his Party as a Deputy to the Assembly of the Republic for the Azores from 1975 and for Lisbon from 1983.
In the 1st Constitutional Government, he was Minister of Internal Affairs (1976–1978), and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 9th Constitutional Government, from 1983 to 1985. He returned to the same ministry, in António Guterres' governments, from 1995 to 2002, and was also Minister of State and Minister of National Defence, in 1999, and Minister of State from 1999 to 2002.
He was President of the United Nations Security Council during June 1998. He was the chairman of the Presidency of the Council of Europe from 1 January 2002, until 6 April 2002, when he lost his post as Foreign Minister when the new government of José Manuel Durão Barroso took office in Portugal.
In 2005, he became the new and 12th President of the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República), the Portuguese parliament, until 2011. He served as a Member of Parliament between 1975 and 2011.
Foreign policy
As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jaime Gama signed the Accession Treaty of Portugal to the European Communities, the Friendship, Cooperation and Consultation Treaty with Brazil, and initiated and concluded negotiations with China on the handover of Macau. He negotiated and signed the New York Agreements between the UN, Indonesia, and Portugal that led to the self-determination and independence of East-Timor. On several occasions, he managed crisis and peace and reconciliation efforts in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. Jaime Gama was the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2002 when Angola reached peace after a 27-year civil war.
Jaime Gama proposed, negotiated and launched the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
As Foreign Minister he proposed and organized, with Algeria and Egypt, the first Africa-EU Summit, paving the way for the Africa-EU Partnership. As Speaker of the Parliament he negotiated and implemented the Parliamentary Forum of the Ibero-American Community of Nations.
Life after politics
Jaime Gama is a Senior Strategic Counsel at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy and business advisory firm led by former U.S. Secretary of State in the Clinton administration Madeleine Albright, former National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, and former Commerce Secretary and Kellogg Company CEO Carlos Gutierrez.[2]
Presently, he is a member of the General Council of the University of Lisbon, of the Supervisory Board and of the Strategy Board of the Political Studies Institute, both of the Lisbon Catholic University, of the European Council on Foreign Relations and of the Aspen Ministers Forum.
In addition, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank Novo Banco dos Açores, Chairman of the Supervisory Board for the electronic newspaper “Observador" and a member of the Board of Directors of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.
Decorations
He was awarded with the Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ, the Order of Prince Henry (Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique), the Order of Liberty and the Order of St Michael and St George.
Family
He married in Lisbon on 18 September 1971 Alda Taborda and their son, João Taborda da Gama, born in 1977, is a Tax Law Professor of the Law School of the Catholic University of Portugal.They have five grandchildren. [3]
References
- Os Presidentes do Parlamento (Presidents of the Portuguese Parliament), Assembly of the Republic
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