José Sócrates

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José Sócrates
José Sócrates

119th Prime Minister of Portugal (65th of the Republic, 17th since the Carnation Revolution)
Incumbent
Assumed office 
March 12, 2005
Preceded by Pedro Santana Lopes
Succeeded by Incumbent

Born September 6, 1957
Vilar de Maçada, Alijó, Portugal
Political party Socialist
Spouse Divorced

José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH (pron. IPA [ʒu'zɛ 'sɔkɾɐtɨʃ]; born in Porto[1], but registered by his father in Vilar de Maçada, Alijó, 6 September 1957) is a Portuguese politician, secretary-general of the Socialist Party and the current prime minister of Portugal, since March 12, 2005.

He has been a member of the Socialist Party since 1981 and a member of parliament since 1987. In 1995, he entered government as secretary of state for Environment in the first government of António Guterres. Two years later, Sócrates became Minister for Youth and Sports and was one of the organizers of the EURO 2004 cup in Portugal. He became Minister for Environment in Guterres' second government in 1999. Following the elections of 2002 (won by José Manuel Durão Barroso), Sócrates became a member of the opposition. After the resignation of Ferro Rodrigues as party leader in 2004, he won a bid for the post of secretary-general against Manuel Alegre and João Soares, winning the vote of nearly 80% of party members on 24 September 2004.

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[edit] Personal life

José Sócrates is a civil engineer by training, with post-graduate studies in the area of sanitary engineering. He earned his 3-year bacharelato degree from Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra (1978), and then completed his studies with the licenciatura (licentiate degree) from a private university in Lisbon (1981) [2]. He is divorced, and has two children. Sócrates is a registered elector of the municipality of Covilhã where he lived throughout his childhood and teen years with his father, a divorced architect.

[edit] Prime Minister of Portugal

After the landslide victory of his party in the 2005 Portuguese election, Sócrates was called on 24 February by president Jorge Sampaio to form a new government. Sócrates and his government (XVII Governo Constitucional) took office in March 12, 2005.

[edit] XVII Governo Constitucional

Ministry Minister Terms of Office
State and Administration António Costa 2005-03-12
State and Foreign Affairs Diogo Freitas do Amaral 2005-03-12
Luís Amado 2006-07-03
State and Finances Luís Campos e Cunha 2005-03-12
Fernando Teixeira dos Santos 2005-07-21
Presidency Pedro Silva Pereira 2005-03-12
National Defence Luís Amado 2005-03-12
Nuno Severiano Teixeira 2006-07-03
Justice Alberto Costa 2005-03-12
Environment Francisco Nunes Correia 2005-03-12
Economy Manuel Pinho 2005-03-12
Agriculture Jaime Silva 2005-03-12
Public and Communications Mário Lino 2005-03-12
Labour and Social Solidarity José Vieira da Silva 2005-03-12
Health António Correia de Campos 2005-03-12
Education Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues 2005-03-12
Science, Technology and High Education Mariano Gago 2005-03-12
Culture Isabel Pires de Lima 2005-03-12
Parliamentary Affairs Augusto Santos Silva 2005-03-12

[edit] External links