Everything about Poul Nyrup Rasmussen totally explained
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen [⁽ˈ⁾pʰʌʊ̯lny(ː)ɔb̥ ˈʁɑsmusn̩], informal: [⁽ˈ⁾pʰʌʊ̯lnyːˀɔb̥] (born
June 15,
1943 in
Esbjerg) was the
Prime Minister of
Denmark from
January 25,
1993 to
November 27,
2001, and is currently a
Member of the European Parliament and President of the
Party of European Socialists (PES). He was the leader of the governing
Social Democrats from
1992 to
2002 where he was succeeded by
Mogens Lykketoft.
Early Political and Personal Life
He was born to a
working class family in
Esbjerg in
1943. His parents were Oluf Nyrup Rasmussen and Vera Eline Nyrup Rasmussen. He was educated at the
University of Copenhagen, earning a degree in economic in
1971. While studying he was active in the social democratic student union,
Frit Forum where he met some of his future political colleagues. He is married to Lone Dybkjœer, who is a Danish MP and a former MEP. He had a daughter, Signe, who died on
August 20 1993, however he's two stepdaughter, Mette and Lotte and he's grandfather to Mette’s two children, Lukas and Nikoline. To put him through university, he did various jobs, including counting traffic and being a part-time delivery boy.
In his spare time, he enjoys holidaying with his wife in their second house, he also enjoys swimming, walking, and reflecting with friends. He also like listening to music.
Prime Minister 1993-2001
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen came to power following the fall of Poul Schlüter government after he misinfomed the Danish
Parliament over the his involvement with some
Tamil refugees.
The Social Democrats-led government of Rasmussen made use of limited classical
Keynesianism in connection with the so-called kick-start of 1993-94 as its economic policy. Under Rasmussen, Denmark experienced the most comprehensive privatization of publicly-owned assets in the 20th century.
He only narrowly won re-election in 1998, an election where his party gained 36% of votes cast. However, many vote recounts where needed in order to determine the voters choice. The
cabinet he unveiled was almost identical. All the main cabinet members,
Niels Helveg Petersen,
Mogen Lykketoft and
Radical Liberal leader Marianne Jelved held onto their posts. Prime Minister Rasmussen stated their first order of business was to secure a ‘yes’ vote on the
European Union Amsterdam Treaty. Eventually, 55% of the Danish public voted in favour of the treaty.
Towards the end of the 1990s, a
trade surplus of 30 billion
kroner (
USD 4.9 billion) turned into a
deficit. To combat this, the government increased taxes, limiting private consumption. The 1998 initiative, which was dubbed the Whitsun Packet (Danish:
Pinsepakken) from the season it was issued, wasn't universally popular with the electorate, which may have been a factor in the Social Democrats' defeat in the
2001 parliamentary election.
On
May 8 2000 Poul Nyrup Rasmussen visit China. There he met his Chinese counterpart
Zhu Rongji and President
Jiang Zemin. The 8-day trip marked 50 years since the two counties established diplomatic ties. Whilst in China, he raised questions about human rights and China’s rule of Tibet.
His government presided over the
referendum on Danish participation in the
Euro on
September 28,
2000. Participation in the Euro was rejected by 53.2% of the electorate.
He called an early
2001 election to be held on
11 March.
The election was called just after the
September 11 attacks.
His statesmanlike response to these attacks gained him and the
Radical Liberals their highest poll ratings in years. This lead would be eroded in the build up to the
election.
He was up against
Liberal leader
Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The campaign focused mainly on immigration and refugees, which played right into the hands of the
Danish People’s Party. There was little debate about the
European Union, as the two leaders opinions where largely the same. More shockingly, two in every three Danes now supported tighter immigration ristrictions, compared to only one in two before
September 11. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said that the early election would give the next
Prime Minister time to prepare for Denmark’s upcoming presidency of the
European Union in 2002.
Other campaign focuses where on welfare and health care. The aim for creating a more robust economy to deal with the economic turn down was also stated by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. In the last few days of the campaign, various intellectuals warned the Danish population not to vote for the right-wing parties due to the policies of the
Danish People’s Party.
The loss of power in the
2001 election to
Anders Fogh Rasmussen's
Venstre was the first time since
1920 that his party had lost its position as the largest party in the
Folketing (Parliament).
European Parliament, 2004-
Rasmussen currently sits as an
MEP after winning a record number of 407,966 votes for an individual (from Denmark) in the
European Parliamentary
elections in
2004. Rasmussen was re-elected as President of PES for a further 2.5 years at the PES Congress in Porto on 8 December 2006. In this position, one of his tasks is too make sure there's a strong unity within the party.
Miscellaneous
Rasmussen is a member of the
Club of Madrid.
Further Information
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