Per Gahrton

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Carl Per Gunnar Gahrton (born 2 February 1943 in Malmö) is a Swedish politician. He was a Member of Parliament (representing the People's Party) from 1976 to 1979, and (representing the Green Party) from 1988 to 1991 and from 1994 to 1995. He was also a Member of the European Parliament from 1995 to 2004.

Gahrton was elected leader of the Liberal Youth of Sweden, the youth wing of the People's Party, in 1969. In 1971 he had to resign from this post due to ideological conflicts within the organization, and was succeeded by Lars Leijonborg in a close election. In 1976 he was elected a Member of Parliament for the People's Party. He was re-elected in 1979 but left the parliament and the People's Party the same year. Gahrton was a driving force behind the founding of the Swedish Green Party in 1981, and served as one of two spokespersons for the party from 1984 to 1985. He also served as a Member of Parliament for the Green Party from 1988 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1995. From 1995 to 2004 he was a Member of the European Parliament. He is an outspoken eurosceptic and was one of the leading proponents of the "no"-side in the 1994 Swedish European Union membership referendum (which was won by the "yes"-side).

Gahrton is known for his pro-Palestinian views, something which during his time in the People's Party led to conflicts with the more Israel-friendly members of the party. He is the current chairman of the Palestine Solidarity Association of Sweden. He has authored several books, mostly about political issues, such as Kampen om Palestina ("The Battle of Palestine", 1970) and Arabvärlden inför 80-talet ("The Arab World In Front of the 80's", 1979). He has also written a series of fictional novels inspired by politics: Partikongressen ("The Party Congress", 1978, under the pseudonym Hertha Knutsdotter), Valkampanjen ("The Election Campaign", 1980), Maktens fångar ("Prisoners of Power", 1997) and EU-politikerns död ("The Death of the EU-politician", 2001).

Gahrton earned a Ph.D. in sociology in 1983. He has lived together with the Danish feminist and political scientist Drude Dahlerup since 1992.

[edit] External links

• Per Gahrton at the Green Party's website

Persondata
NAME	Gahrton, Per
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gahrton, Carl Per Gunnar (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Politician
DATE OF BIRTH	2 February 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH	Malmö, Sweden
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH