| Ibrahim Baylan | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Riksdag | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2006 |
|
| Constituency | Västerbotten County |
| Minister for Schools | |
| In office 2004–2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Thomas Östros |
| Succeeded by | Jan Björklund |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 15, 1972 Mardin (Tur Abdin), Turkey |
| Political party | Swedish Social Democratic Party |
| Religion | Syrian Orthodox |
Ibrahim Baylan, (born 15 March 1972) is a Swedish politician and a member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. He was Minister for Schools in the cabinet of Göran Persson from 2004 to 2006 and was replaced by Jan Björklund of the Liberal People's Party following the defeat of the Social Democrats in the 2006 election. He is now a member of the Riksdag.
Ibrahim Baylan is an ethnic Assyrian/Syriac, born in the village Salah in Tur Abdin, Turkey, belonging to the Syriac Orthodox Church. His parents left the country with him in the early 1980s. They settled in Botkyrka, a suburb of Stockholm. He studied economics at Umeå University and was engaged in student politics. In 1997 he became the chair of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League in Umeå. The same year, he was elected chair of the Umeå Union of Students and also became a member of the municipal school board.
From 2000 Baylan worked as an ombudsman for the Swedish Union of Commercial Salaried Employees. He ran unsuccessfully on the Social Democratic ballot for the 2004 European Parliament election. Later in the same year, he was appointed to be Minister for Schools by Prime Minister Göran Persson, becoming the first non-European immigrant to become a member of a Swedish government cabinet. 2007 he was elected chairman of the Swedish parliamentary commeete of transportation and communication. 2009 he became sectretary general of the Swedish Socialdemokratic party. He resigned in march 2011.
As Minister for Schools he was involved in a controversy about a report from the Swedish National Agency for Education that was withdrawn after criticism from minister Baylan. He was reported to the Swedish Committee on the Constitution and called to a hearing on 12 April 2005.