Felipe González
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| Felipe González Márquez | |
| Image:Felipe Gonzalez-Madrid-28 de enero de 2004.jpg
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| In office December 1, 1982 – May 4, 1996 | |
| Vice President(s) | Alfonso Guerra (1982-1991) Narcís Serra i Serra (1991-1995) None (1995-1996) |
| Preceded by | Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo |
| Succeeded by | José María Aznar López |
| In office May 4, 1996 – June 22, 1997 | |
| President | José María Aznar López |
| Preceded by | José María Aznar López |
| Succeeded by | Joaquin Almunia |
| In office July 4, 1977 – December 1, 1982 | |
| President | Adolfo Suárez González (1977-1981) Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo (1981-1982) |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Fraga Iribarne |
| Born | March 5 1942 Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain |
| Nationality | Spain |
| Political party | PSOE |
| Spouse | Carmen Romero |
Felipe González Márquez (born March 5, 1942) is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997. He was also the longest-serving Prime Minister of the Spanish government, in four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.
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[edit] Presidency
In the 1982 general election held on October 28, 1982, the PSOE gained 48.3% of the vote and 202 deputies (out of 350). On December 2 González became the prime minister, with Alfonso Guerra as his deputy. His election was met with tremendous expectation of change amongst Spaniards. Under his government education was made universal and free until the age of 16, university education was expanded, the social security system began and a partial legalisation of abortion became law for the first time, despite opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. González pushed for liberal reforms and a restructuring of the economy.
On February 23, 1983, the Government passed a law nationalising Rumasa, a private business that included merchant banking interests, on the grounds that it was at the point of bankruptcy and the government needed to protect the savings of depositors and the jobs of its 60,000 employees, a decision that aroused considerable criticism and a judicial conflict over the law that was only resolved, in favour of the government, in December 1986.
Having promised in the election to create 800,000 new jobs his government's restructuring of the steel industry actually resulted in job lay offs, especially in the provinces. When they tried to similarly tackle the debt problems in the dock industry in 1984 the dockers went on strike. The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), or Workers' General Union, called a general strike on June 20 1985 in protest against social security reforms. The same year his government began a massive privatisation both partial or full, of the 200 state owned companies, as well as the hundreds of affiliates dependent on these companies.
In the 1986 general election held on June 22, 1986, the PSOE gained 44.1% of the vote and 184 deputies in Parliament. González was elected prime minister for the second time. During this second term, Spain joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1986. González supported Spain remaining in NATO that same year in a referendum reversing his and the party's earlier anti-NATO position. A general strike on December 14, 1988 completely paralysed the country and caused the Unions and the PSOE left wing to describe González as moving to the right.
On October 29, 1989, he won the 1989 general election with 39.6% of the vote and 175 seats, his third successive mandate. In the First Gulf War in 1991, González supported the USA. From 1991, the PSOE started losing its urban vote in favour of the reformed People's Party.
On June 6, 1993, González won the 1993 general election with 38.8% of the vote and 159 deputies. His fourth victory was marred by the fact he was forced to form a pact with small political parties from Catalonia and Basque country in order to form a new government.
Towards the end of 1995 there was a debate about whether González should lead the PSOE in the forthcoming general elections. The People's Party intensified its campaign to associate his period in office with a poor economic situation (although unemployment had begun to decline and the economic reforms of the previous decade initiated a lasting period of economic growth http://www.ine.es/daco/daco42/cne00/pib.xls#Tabla_2!A1) and with accusations of corruption and state terrorism scandals, including allegations of waging a dirty war against the terrorist group ETA. There was speculation in the press about Javier Solana as a possible replacement. (Solana was the only member of González's original cabinet), but Solana was appointed Secretary General of NATO in December 1995.
Left with no other suitable candidate, the party was again led by González and in the 1996 general election held on March 3, 1996, they gained 37.4% of the vote and 141 deputies. They lost the election to the People's Party whose leader José María Aznar replaced González as prime minister ("presidente" in Spanish, but not to be confused with the more common use of the term) on May 5, 1996.
The legacy of Felipe González's long mandate left a bittersweet taste. His Ministers of Economy and Finance (notably Miguel Boyer, Carlos Solchaga and Pedro Solbes) implemented a vigorous program of economic reforms that included privatization of public companies such as Telefónica or ENDESA, liberalization and deregulation of the economy and restructuring of whole industry sectors such as steel or mining which left many people unemployed and created resentment among the working classes and the trade unions. However his governments also paved the path to a long period of declining interest rates, low budgetary deficits and stronger economic growth than the European average. On the other hand his governments extended certain social benefits such as free universal health care and universal public schooling for all children under 16. Felipe González also secured the membership of Spain to the EEC, which the country joined in 1986 and consolidated democratic government. However in the final years of his mandate several cases of corruption, the most notable whereof were the scandals impersonated by Civil Guard Director Roldán, further eroded popular support for the PSOE. Nonetheless González and most of his ministers generally came across as having left office with clean hands albeit some unfortunate choices for some of the lower ranking public servants had been made (María Antonia Iglesias, La memoria recuperada. Lo que nunca han contado Felipe González y los dirigentes socialistas, 2003, this author is very close, though, to the PSOE official line, since she even served as head of the public TV broadcast Televisión Española appointed for the job by one of the Gonzalez's cabinets).
[edit] After the presidency
Since September 1996 he heads the Madrid-based Global Progress Foundation (FPG). At the beginning of the 34th PSOE National Congress on June 20 1997 he made a surprise resignation as leader of the party. He also resigned from the federal executive committee, though retaining his seat in the Congress. With no clear successor he continued to exert an enormous influence over the party. He was only replaced at the 35th party Congress in July 2000 when José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became the leader.
In 1999 González was put in charge of the party's Global Progress Commission in response to globalisation. The Commission's report formed the basis of the closing declaration of the 21st Socialist International Congress on November 8–9 1999.
He stood down as a deputy in the Spanish Parliament in March 2004.
On July 27, 2007 the Spanish Government appointed him as plenipotentiary and extraordinary ambassador for the bicentenary celebrations in commemoration of the independence of Latin America. The celebrations will begin in September 2010 in Mexico. [1]
On December 14, 2007 heads of state and goverments of European Union members, in a summit held in Brussels, appointed Gonzalez as chairman of a think tank on European future, consisting of until nine well-prestiged personalities, charged with writing a report, on june 2010, about challenges European Union will face from 2020 to 2030. It will also deal with how to achieve a closer understanding between citizens and the Union. .[2]
One of his hobbies is tending bonsai trees. During his tenure at Moncloa, he received and cultivated several of them, mostly Mediterranean species, that he later donated to the Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid.
Member of the Club of Madrid[2]. [3]
[edit] Published works
- "Un discurso ético" (co-authorship with Víctor Márquez Reviriego, 1982)
- "El Socialismo" (1997)
- "El futuro no es lo que era" (co-authorship with Juan Luis Cebrián, 2001)
- "Memorias del futuro" (2003)
[edit] References
- ^ [1], Cadena SER (in Spanish).
- ^ http://www.publico.es/espana/027694/felipe/gonzalez/europa], Público news (Spanish).
- ^ (English) [http://www.clubmadrid.org The Club of Madrid is an independent organization dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world by drawing on the unique experience and resources of its Members – 66 democratic former heads of state and government.
[edit] External links
- EU Council CV
- Analysis of his rule
- Biography of Felipe González at CIDOB (Spanish)
- [3], Cadena SER (in Spanish).
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo | President of the Government of Spain 1982–1996 | Succeeded by José María Aznar |
| Preceded by Interim Committee | Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 1979-1997 | Succeeded by Joaquin Almunia |
| Preceded by Rodolfo Llopis | Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 1974-1979 | Succeeded by Interim Committee |
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