Portia Simpson Miller,  Prime Minister of Jamaica (since Jan 6, 2012)

Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica

Portia Simpson Miller was born in Wood Hall, St. Catherine and attended the Marlie Hill Primary School , St. Martin’s High School and the Union Institute, Miami Florida where she read for a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration. While completing her degree she also completed a Diploma in Computing, Programming and Public Relations.

ACHIEVEMENTS

* Elected President of the People’s National Party on February 25th, 2006 and Prime Minister designate
* Minister of Local Government, Community Development & Sport
* Former Minister of Tourism and Sport with responsibilities for Entertainment & Gender Issues
* Acted in the capacity of Prime Minister on several occasions
* Vice President of the People’s National Party since 1978
* Participated in First Eleanor Roosevelt Caucus of Women Political Leaders
* Participated in “Women in Leadership Conference” at the John F. Kennedy School , Harvard University , in 1997
* Recipient of the Certificate for completion of the Executive Programme for Leaders in Development at the above institution in 1999
* Holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Administration from Union Institute in Miami , Certificates in Public Relations, Advanced Management
* Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the Union Institute
* An advocate for the poor, the dispossessed, the oppressed and all those who remain voiceless and faceless in the corridors of power
* Holds a steadfast vision for development and change in the Jamaican Society

“It is often said that – “ while the nation sleeps, she works.”

PROFESSION

In her business career she has worked in various positions as Secretary and in the Social Service Field

POSITIONS HELD IN GOVERNMENT

* October 2002 – present, Minister of Local Government and Sport
* Feb. 21, 2000 – 2002 Minister of Tourism & Sports
* 1995 – Feb. 20, 2000 Minister of Labour, Social Security & Sports
* 1993 – 1995 Minister of Labour & Welfare
* 1989 – 1993 Minister of Labour,Welfare and Sports
* 1983 – 1989 PNP’s Spokesperson on Women’s affairs, Pension, Social Security and Consumer Affairs
* Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister
* Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government
* Member of Parliament for South West St. Andrew since 1989
* Councillor of the KSAC in 1974 & 1976
* Sits on the Executive Council and the National Executive Council for the Party
* Active and leading Member of the PNP

Portia Simpson Miller was born in Wood Hall, St. Catherine and attended the Marlie Hill Primary School , St. Martin’s High School and the Union Institute, Miami Florida where she read for a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration. While completing her degree she also completed a Diploma in Computing, Programming and Public Relations.

ACHIEVEMENTS

“It is often said that – “ while the nation sleeps, she works.”

PROFESSION

In her business career she has worked in various positions as Secretary and in the Social Service Field

POSITIONS HELD IN GOVERNMENT

Andrew Holness, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica

Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica

Mr. Holness was born on July 22nd, 1972. He attended St. Catherine High and later graduated from the University of the West Indies.

Mr. Holness served as Executive Director in the Voluntary Organization for Uplifting Children from 1994 to 1996. Then he joined the Premium Group of Companies and functioned as a special assistant to Most. Hon. Edward Seaga. In 1997 he became Member of Parliament for West Central St. Andrew and served as Opposition Spokesperson on Land and Development from 1999 to 2002. In 2002 he switched portfolio to Housing and then Education in 2005. He was sworn in as Minister of the same in September 2007.

On October 23, 2011, the Honorable Andrew Holness was sworn in as Jamaica’s 9th Prime Minister.

Andrew Holness  is married to Juliette Holness and has two children.

Bruce Golding, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica (resigned on Oct 23, 2011)

Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica

The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the prime minister, as her representative in Jamaica. The governor general’s role is largely ceremonial. Executive power is vested in the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister.

Bruce Golding is the son of teachers Tacius and Enid Golding. He was born on December 5, 1947 in Clarendon at the home of his godmother, Mrs. Winnifred Stuart (the mother of Mrs. Percival Broderick). At the age of five, he started attending the Watermount Elementary School two years ahead of enrolment age. In January 1954, he attended the Skibo Elementary School, where his aunt was a teacher and her husband, the Headmaster. He relocated to St. Faiths in June 1954 where he attended the Macca Tree Elementary before finally settling at Alpha Primary in 1955 in Kingston.

He spent three years at Alpha before sitting and passing his Common Entrance. However, as he was still too young to be awarded a free space, he challenged the Ministry of Education’s decision and took his plight to St. George’s College. Then headmaster Fr. Edward Donahue overheard and facilitated on the grounds that his parents were willing to pay his tuition. He spent five years at St. George’s College and was successful at the Cambridge examinations in 1962. He transferred to Jamaica College in 1967 to pursue A’ Levels. It was during this time he met fellow schoolboy Dr. Peter Phillips who was later to become a political rival. He later went on to graduate from the University of the West Indies in 1969 with a B.Sc. in Economics.

Mr. Golding’s father, Tacius Golding, was the first Speaker of the House in independent Jamaica. Bruce would accompany his father to many political events and as such, he developed a keen interest in politics from an early age. In fact, when his father was about to loose his seat in the 1967 elections, he suspended his studies and took charge of the campaign, thus enabling a decisive win for the Jamaica Labour Party.

This landed Mr. Golding his first political appointment as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Lotteries Commission in 1968 by then Minister of Finance, the Honourable Edward Seaga. He was also elected Vice Chairman of the JLP Constituency Executive for West St. Catherine in that year. He was still a university student at this time. After graduating in 1969 at the age of 21, Mr. Golding was elected Candidate for West St. Catherine and won the seat decisively in the same year. He then went on to co-found Young Jamaica in 1970, which was the party’s youth arm.

Mr. Golding was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Jamaica in 1972. He was then elected General Secretary of the party by Mr. Seaga in 1974. After his defeat in West St. Catherine in 1976 general election, he decided to withdraw from representational politics to focus on being General Secretary of the JLP and was later appointed to the Senate. He was a key figure in coordinating the JLP’s organization and campaign for the 1980 election in which the party was victorious.

Following the success of the JLP, Mr. Golding was re-appointment to the senate as Minister of Construction. During his tenure:

• The construction sector grew by 43% after a 68% decline under the previous administration.
• 25,000 new housing units were built.
• The National Shelter Sector strategy was adopted by the United Nations as a model for several developing countries.
• Rent restriction laws were reformed, thus facilitating new construction and tenant protection.
• Major road improvement programmes were developed.
• Legislation was adopted to provide professional registration for architects and engineers.

Mr. Golding returned to politics in 1983 as Member of Parliament for what is now Central St. Catherine. He was re-elected twice in 1989 and 1993. He was appointed Chairman of the JLP in 1984 and served as acting Prime Minister on a number of occasions. After the JLP’s 1989 electoral defeat, Mr. Golding was appointed Shadow Minister of Finance and chairman of the Public Accounts committee, exposing a number of scandals in the wake of his tenure in this position.

In the early 90’s, Mr. Golding expressed deep dissatisfaction with the country’s non-progressive political culture and campaigned for substantive change. Even though he had public support, the JLP failed to embrace his ideas. Thus he moved to create a new political party, the National Democratic Movement, of which he was elected as first president. However, as the party failed to make a substantive electoral representation in 1997 and 2001, he subsequently resigned as Party President. Mr. Golding went on to host a radio talk show programme “Disclosure” which gained considerable popularity on Hot102 FM.

Shortly after the 2002 elections were announced, Mr. Golding rejoined the JLP under a memorandum of understanding which ensured that the following issues would be addressed:

• Re-examination of the issue on separation of powers.
• Eliminating political tribalism and garrison politics.
• Establishing a public prosecutor for corrupt officials.
• Financing constituencies from the annual budget.
• All oversight committees are chaired by the opposition.
• Opposition leader having equal statement rights.
• Re-examining term limits and fixed election dates.

The party’s notably encouraging performance in that election was largely attributed to Mr. Golding’s return. He was subsequently appointed as Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and unopposed Chairman of the JLP in February 2005. In April of the same year, Mr. Golding was elected member of Parliament for West Kingston and assumed leadership of the opposition. Two years later, he led the JLP to a decisive victory in the September elections in 2007 and was sworn in as Jamaica’s eighth Prime Minister the following week.

Orette Bruce Golding and his wife Lorna have been married for over 32 years. They have three children; Steven, Sherene and Ann-Merita.

Honorable Patrick Allen, Governor-General of Jamaica

Honorable Patrick Allen, Governor-General of Jamaica

Dr. Patrick Linton Allen was born on 7th February 1951, in the farming community of Fruitful Vale, Portland, the fourth of five children of Ferdinand Allen and his wife, Christiana (nee Grant).

He attended the Fruitful Vale All-Age School and after successfully completing his Jamaica School Certificate Examination, and subsequently GCE examinations by private study, he joined the staff of the school as a pre-trained teacher at the age of 17. In 1970, he enrolled in the Moneague Teachers’ College. Following his graduation, he taught at Water Valley All-Age School in St. Mary for four years before being appointed Principal of the Robin’s Bay All-Age School in the same parish in 1976. In 1979, he became Principal of the Hillside Primary School, also in St. Mary, which had an enrollment four times the size of Robin’s Bay All-Age School.

A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Dr. Allen felt the urge from as early as age 11 to serve God as a full-time pastor, a call which he consistently resisted to pursue a teaching career. In 1983, he found that he could no longer resist this calling and he entered Andrews University in Michigan where he obtained the Bachelor’s degree in History and Religion before pursuing the Master’s degree in Systematic Theology.

Dr. Allen returned to Jamaica in 1986 and was employed as a Pastoral Intern and subsequently District Pastor. He has pastored many churches in St. Catherine and Clarendon. He was formally ordained as a Seventh-day Adventist pastor in 1989.

In 1993, Dr. Allen returned to Andrews University to read for his Doctorate, and in 1998 he was awarded the PhD in Educational Administration and Supervision. During that period, he also worked as Assistant Registrar of Andrews University. Upon his return to Jamaica in 1998, he was elected President of Central Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists with administrative responsibility for oversight of the churches in the parishes of St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Mary, and St. Ann. In 2000, he was elected President of the West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists with overall responsibility for the Seventh-day Adventist Churches and related organisations in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Cayman Islands. He was re-elected President in 2005.

As President of the Union, he chaired the Union’s Executive Committee made up of 62 church leaders. He also chaired the Boards of:

• Northern Caribbean University
• Andrews Memorial Hospital
• Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
• Book and Nutrition Centre Limited
• West Indies Union Investment Management
Limited (IML)

Dr. Allen adopted a strategic approach to the development of the Union. After completing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, the Union, under his leadership, identified and adopted the strategic issues to encourage growth and consolidation, unity, healthy lifestyle, education, and the Church in the community. Consequently, the membership increased by over 100,000. Three new Missions were created, and two Missions upgraded to Conference status. Extensive growth and development were also achieved at Northern Caribbean University and Andrews Memorial Hospital, as well as other structural and innovative improvements in the administration and services of the Union.

He gave oversight to the network of Adventist-administered educational institutions in the four countries, which comprised 10 high schools, 22 primary schools and numerous basic schools. He demitted these positions on January 28, 2009 in preparation for his installation as Governor-General of Jamaica.

Dr. Allen also served as a member of the Police Civilian Oversight Authority, the Strategic Review Implementation Oversight Committee for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and is a former Member of the Board of the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica. He also served as Vice-Chairman of the Bible Society of the West Indies. In 2003 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for the parish of Manchester.

The Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander was conferred on him in 2006.

Dr. Allen has been married for 33 years, and he and his wife, Denise Patricia (nee Beckford), are the proud parents of three children – Kurt, Candice and David. They have four grandchildren.

LINK: http://www.jis.gov.jm

Christopher Loeak, President of the Marshall Island

Christopher Loeak (born 11 November 1952) is the current president of the Marshall Islands. He was elected by parliament following the Marshall Islands presidential election, 2012.

Loeak was born on the Ailinglaplap Atoll on 11 November 1952. He attended Marshall Island High School before traveling to the United States to study at the Hawaii Pacific College and Gonzaga University School of Law. Loeak is a native speaker of Marshallese and also speaks English. He is married to Anono Lieom Loeak and has three children and eight grandchildren.

Loeak was first elected to the Nitijela in 1985 when he represented the Ailinglaplap Atoll. He served in the cabinet of President Amata Kabua as Minister of Justice from 1988 to 1992. He became Minister of Social Services in 1992 and held that post until 1996 when Kunio Lemari became acting president on the death of Kabua and Loeak became Minister of Education. He held the education portfolio for two years, continuing his cabinet work under President Imata Kabua who was sworn in in 1997. Kabua made him Minister for the Ralik Chain of islands in 1998, holding that position for a year and also undertaking an additional portfolio as Minister-in-Assistance to the President in 1999.

During his time in the Nitijela Loeak took an active part in many of its committees including those for the Judiciary and Government Relations; Public Account, Health and Education and Social Services (which he chaired); Foreign Affairs and Trade; Appropriation; Resource and Development; International Protection, Peace, Security and Protection of the Environment. He was also a member of the Second and Third Constitutional Conventions, serving as vice-president of the latter, and chaired the Bill of Rights Committee. Loeak was part of the team that negotiated the extension of the United States lease of the Marshallese part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site after an eight year deadlock on talks. The Marshall Islands government agreed to accept payment of $32 million in return for extending the lease on the site.

Loeak was re-elected to the Nitijela in 2007 and has held the seat of Ailinglaplap since then. He re-entered the cabinet in 2008 as Minister-in-Assistance to President Litokwa Tomeing.

Loeak became president of the Marshall Islands in January 2012 when the Nitijela elected him to that post. Loeak defeated incumbent president Jurelang Zedkaia by 21 votes to 11. Zedkaia has agreed to co-operate with the new administration and Loeak is expected to name his cabinet and be officially sworn in within a week.

Litokwa Tomeing, Former President of the Marshall Island

Litokwa Tomeing, President of the Marshall Island

President Iroij Litokwa Tomeing was born on October 14, 1939 on Wotje Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. As a young child, Tomeing attended Catholic Elementary School in Likiep and Jaluit, respectively, from 1950-1954. He went on to attend Intermediate School in Majuro from 1954-1957.

Tomeing went on to PIC High School in Pohnpei, graduating successfully in 1961. From 1970-1972, Tomeing undertook University of Hawaii extension studies.

Mr. Tomeing first entered the public service of the Marshall Islands in 1961 as Principal/Teacher at Ebon Elementary School and remained there until 1964. He left Ebon for Majuro and continued in his teaching profession at Rita Elementary School from 1965-1968.

He first entered local politics when he ran and successfully attained the mayoral seat for Wotje Atoll, serving as Mayor for Wotje from 1965-1969, a role which he once held simultaneously with his teaching post at Wotje Elementary School from 1968-1973.

Mr. Tomeing returned to Majuro in 1974 and took up the position of Media and Curriculum Specialist at Marshall Islands High School.

Mr. Tomeing entered big time politics when he entered the Nitijela (national parliament) race and successfully won the seat for Ebon, Namdrik, Kili, and Jaluit atolls, retaining that seat from 1974-1978.

In 1976, he was appointed as one of the Marshall Islands’ delegates to the Federated States of Micronesia Constitutional Convention in Saipan, Mariana Islands.

Two years later in 1978, he was also selected as delegate and member at large to the Marshall Islands Constitutional Convention held in Majuro.

Shortly following the country’s full independence as a sovereign nation and separation from the Federated States of Micronesia, he became one of the 33 members of the Marshall Islands’ Nitijela in 1979 to the present day.

He became Vice Speaker of the Nitijela from 1992 to 1995, and then member of the Cabinet as Minister in Assistance to the President with direct supervisory role over the Ratak chain of islands in the Republic from 1996-1998.

Mr. Tomeing became Speaker of the Nitijela in 2000 until his election to the presidency on January 2008.

His hobbies include fishing, home gardening, and travelling.

Mr. Tomeing is married to Arlin Tomeing and they have seven children and a handful of grandchildren.

LINK: http://www.rmigovernment.org

Kessai Hesa Note, Former President of Marshall Islands

Kessai Hesa Note, Former President of Marshall Islands

Kessai Hesa Note (born August 7, 1950 in Ailinglaplap) is the president of the Marshall Islands. He was elected in 2000 by Parliament. He is a member of the United Democratic Party. He was reelected by parliament in January 2004, receiving 20 votes, while Justin deBrum received 9.

Kim Jong-il, President of North Korea

Kim Jong-il, at 64, is the unchallenged leader of North Korea. Since he succeeded his father Kim Il-sung in 1994 the secretive communist state has sunk further into poverty, while its foreign policy has become ever more combative and anti-Western.

The birth of Kim Il-sung’s eldest son – now known to his people as “Dear Leader” – is steeped in legend. According to some accounts he was born in February 1942 on Mount Paektu, his birth marked by the appearance of a double rainbow and a bright star in the sky.

Others claim he was born February 1941 in Siberia during Kim Il-sung’s period of exile.

Kim studied politics at the Kim Il-sung university and graduated in 1964, becoming leader of the Korean Workers’ Party and joining the party politburo.

He was later appointed deputy editor of the Propaganda and Agitation department and, in 1973, he became party secretary in charge of Organisation and Propaganda.

By 1980 he had become a member of the Central Committee and the designated successor to his father. In 1991 he was appointed Supreme Commander of the armed forces.

Little is known about him although there are many stories. He is said to have written six operas within two years and single-handedly designed the Juche tower which signifies the Juche ideology of self reliance blended with Marxism, the Korean idea of communism.

It is also rumoured that he has been responsible for kidnapping young women, mainly from Japan, in order to be his companions.

Kim Jong-il has been suspected of being involved in the 1983 bomb attack on Rangoon in which several members of the South Korean cabinet were killed and the bombing of a South Korean airliner four years later.
Recent reports suggest that the dictator has hired body doubles to carry out boring state visits and reduce the threat from assassins.

A liking for exotic foods including roast donkey has contibuted to the dictator’s potbellied physique, although the look is far from typical in his country where many survive on a meagre diet of rice and cabbage.

Eduard Kokoyty, President of South Ossetia

Eduard Kokoyty, President of South Ossetia

(Кокойты Эдуард Джабеевич) born on October 31, 1964 in Tskhinvali.

Professional career started as an electrical engineer. Graduated South Ossetian Pedagogical Institute in 1987. While he was a student, he was elected as the secretary of the committee of communists at the university.From 1988-1989 was a secretary and then from 1989-1991 he was the first secretary of the city of Tskhinvali communist party.

During Georgia-Ossetia conflict, he created and headed the fighting division of the “defenders of Ossetia.”

From 1990-1993 he was a deputy of the Parliament of South Ossetia.

In 1993 he created a sports charity fund “Youth.”

In 1997 he was appointed as the Trade Representative-Minister of South Ossetia to Russia.

Then, he was an advisor to the deputy of Russian Parliament, A. Chekhoev.

Married. Has 3 sons.

Dmitry Sanakoev, Alternative President of South Ossetia

Dmitry Sanakoev (born in 1969) is a South Ossetian politician. He claims to serve as President of South Ossetia, a secessionist republic officially recognised as being part of Georgia, after winning alternative elections organised by the opposition to the de facto incumbent, Eduard Kokoity. He is recognised neither by the de facto government in Tskhinvali, the entity’s capital, or by the international community at large, which does not recognise the existence of a South Ossetian government at all.
Sanakoyev fought on the Ossetian side during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict in the early 1990s. Later, he served as defense minister and then as prime minister for several months in 2001 under Kokoity’s predecessor, Lyudvig Chibirov, but left South Ossetia for Moscow after Kokoity came to power.

On November 13, in a so-called “alternative” poll organized by The Salvation Union of South Ossetia in Georgian- and Ossetian villages not controlled by the separatists, Sanakoyev was declared the president-elect, with more than 80 percent of the vote. His campaign posters were prominently posted on walls outside polling stations in Georgian-controlled villages, benefited from extensive media coverage in the Georgian press. His election manifesto envisaged the restoration of the region’s status as a republic within Georgia and a program of measures to spur economic growth.

At his November 13 press conference, Kokoity termed Sanakoyev and Karkusov, head of the alternative election commission and a former advisor to Kokoity, “traitors to their homeland and traitors to the South Ossetian people.” The South Ossetian media launched a campaign to discredit and compromise Sanakoyev, accusing him of corruption, duplicity, and collaborating with Georgian intelligence.

In December 2006, Sanakoyev formed his government, choosing not to include the post of defense minister.

Mr. Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar was born on the 22nd October, 1950 in the village of Caria Caria on the Essequibo River, to Mr. Sam Ramotar and Ms. Olive Constantine. His father was a Timber Grant operator and his mother a housewife. He has eight (8) siblings.

Mr. Ramotar, an economist by training, received his primary education at Caria Caria Congregational School and the St. Andrew’s Primary School. He later pursued studies at the Government Technical Institute and went on to become a graduate of the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Guyana. He also pursued studies in what was then the Former Soviet Union.

He began his working career on his father’s timber grant. Between 1966 and 1975 he worked at GIMPEX, the commercial arm of the PPP. In 1975 he was appointed Manager of Freedom House, a position that he held for eight years. From 1983 to 1988, he served as a member of the Editorial Council of the magazine ‘Problems of Peace and Socialism’ and as the International Secretary of the Guyana Agricultural Workers’ Union (GAWU) between 1988 and 1993.

Having joined the PPP in 1967 he has been in the leadership of the party since 1979 when he was elected to the Central Committee. He became a member of the Executive Committee of the PPP in 1983 and assumed the position of Executive Secretary of the party one year after the PPP was restored to office in 1992. He became the General Secretary in March 1997 when Dr. Cheddi Jagan passed away, a position he holds today. Mr. Ramotar has had extensive experience within the party and has represented the party on numerous occasions overseas. He has published a number of articles and is a regular columnist for the mirror Newspaper. He was also a member of the ACP- EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and a Bureau member of that organization and a serving member of Guyana’s National Assembly since 1992. Ramotar also served on several Corporate Boards.

Mr. Ramotar is the husband of Deolatchmee Ramotar and the father of three children.

Bharrat Jagdeo, Former President of Guyana

Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana

Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo became President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana on August 11, 1999. Until then, he was the Minister of Finance.

His Excellency, Bharrat Jagdeo was born on January 23, 1964 into a working class family at Unity Village, East Coast of Demerara. His father worked on the railway service once operated by the Transport and Harbours Department and then the Marine Section. His mother tended to a garden to help provide for their six children.

Unity/Lancaster Villages, where he grew up, were and still are predominantly fishing and farming villages. The area truly represents one where the two major ethnic groups live in harmony. This fact would have undoubtedly, had a lasting influence on his social and political outlook. He is unapologetically committed to building national and racial harmony.

From an early age, he became exposed to the political realities of Guyana’s post-Independence. The countrywide marches and cycle parade protests staged by the PPP passed through his village. These events allowed for face to face contact with the struggle for freedom and democracy. His mother would offer food and items to those involved in marches. She even joined the picket line. This political activism she bequeathed him.
Mr. Jagdeo has been involved in politics and public affairs for more than two decades. He entered politics at the tender age of 13, when he joined the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO), the youth arm of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). Three years later, he qualified for membership in the PPP. Subsequently, he was elected to leadership positions in the PPP District and Regional Committees of Upper East Coast.

Mr. Jagdeo’s performance at Primary and Secondary School was commendable. He attended the Bygeval Secondary School and was one of the first students at this school to have secured passes a the GCE Advanced Level. Mr. Jagdeo then joined the staff of the Cove and John High School, where he taught Geography and History.

In 1984, he was awarded a scholarship and successfully read for a Master’s Degree in Economics in Moscow.

In 1990, he returned home and served as an Economist in the State Planning Secretariat.

After the historic PPP/Civic victory of October 5, 1992, Mr. Jagdeo was named as Special Advisor to the then PPP/Civic Minister of Finance.

Hard work and dedication have always paid off for Mr. Jagdeo. His skills as an economist and his consistency of purpose, caught the attention of former PPP Leader and President of Guyana, Dr. Cheddi Jagan. In October 1993, he was named Junior Minister of Finance. Several weeks later, he was elected by the 24th Congress of the PPP to sit on the highest decision making body – the Central Committee. Subsequently, he was elevated to the Executive Committee of the Party.

In May 1995, the late President Cheddi Jagan would have been more impressed by Mr. Jagdeo’s talent and leadership qualities when he was, named Senior Minister of Finance, the youngest person in Guyana’s short history to have been appointed to the post.

Immediately, after his appointment as Senior Minister of Finance, many political observers deemed him a “rising star” in the PPP. He was already being talked about as a future leader of the PPP. But he shied away from commenting on his political aspirations or ambition. He was just content to deal with issues pertaining to the economy and to make Guyana a better place for the present and future generations.

Mr. Jagdeo was entrusted with the monumental task of coordinating efforts to craft a National Development Strategy. His quality of leadership of this process continues to received applause. The Atlanta-based Carter Centre, headed by former US President Jimmy Carter, invited him to tour several African states to share his experience and talk about Guyana’s economic model.

On several occasions, he has acted as Prime Minister of the Republic and overlooked other government ministries, when his Cabinet colleagues were out of the country attending to State business.

His knowledge of matters affecting the State has generated tremendous respect from foes and friends alike.

He served as a Director on a number of Boards including National Bank of Industry and Commerce and the Caribbean Development Bank and Guyana’s Governor to the IMF, World Bank, CDB, IDB and the National Authorising Officer to the European Union.

Over the years, Mr. Jagdeo has earned the reputation as a “go-getter”, “hands on” Minister; someone who is willing to go to the distance to fight corruption and to ensure clean and honest governance.

Mr. Jagdeo continues to win plaudits from local and overseas groups for continuing the campaign for debt relief for Guyana and all heavily indebted countries.

On July 26, 1998 he married Varshni Singh.

His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo was elected as President on March 19, 2001.
He is one of the leading advocates for the CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy) to come on stream 1 st January 2006 which will have significant benefits for the people of the region.

Since becoming President of Guyana in March 2001, he has introduced Cabinet Outreaches in all ten Regions for closer interactions with the communities taking the Government to the people.

He also makes additional outreaches areas across the country with his Ministers and other officials to get at first hand the concerns and problems of the people and listen to their suggestions.

During Guyana’s first natural disaster in January 2005 when the large populous parts of the country were flooded owing to exceptionally high rainfall, he led a successful national response to bring assistance to the large numbers affected and organized rehabilitation efforts.

On September 24 th 2005 he was elected to the very important position of Chairman of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On November 24, 2011, Yahya Jammeh wins 71.5% of the vote.

DATE OF BIRTH: 25th May 1965

PLACE OF BIRTH: Kanilai Village
Foni Kansala District
Western Division

MARITAL STATUS: Married to
Madam Zineb Yahya Jammeh

CHILDREN: One Daughter

PRIMARY EDUCATION
1972 – 1976

Kanilai Primary
(Formerly St. Anthony’s School)

1976 – 1978
Saint Edwards Primary School Bwiam

1978

Passed Common Entrance Examination and attained a Government Scholarship

SECONDARY EDUCATION

1978 -1983

Gambia High School

1983

Passed General Certificate of Education (GCE 0′ Level) with Credits in Geography, English, French, Biology and Physics. Also obtained passes in Chemistry and Oral English

MILITARY CAREER:

April 1 1984

Joined the former Gambia National Gendarmerie

April 1 1986

Promoted from Private to Sergeant

December 1987

Promoted to Cadet Officer

September 1989

Commissioned
UNITS SERVED -
Gambia National Army

August 1984 to April 1986 Special Intervention Unit

April 1986 to December 1987 Mobile Gendarmerie
Special Guards Unit

December 1987 to August 1989 Gendarmerie Training School (School of Presidential Escort)

January 1991 to June 1991 Mobile Gendarmerie
(as Officer Commanding)

June 1991 to August 1991 Military Police Unit of
The Gambia National Gendarmerie
(as Officer Commanding)

August 1991 to July 1994 Gambia National Army
(Officer Commanding, GNA Military Police Yundum Barracks)

OVERSEAS TRAINING

September 1993 – January 1994 Attended Military Police Officers Basic Course (MPOBC) at Port McClellan, Alabama, USA.
Obtained a Diploma in Military Science (Military Operations)

PROMOTIONS:

September 29, 1989 Promoted to Second Lieutenant

February 1, 1992 Promoted to Lieutenant

November 17 1994 Promoted to the Rank of Captain along with other AFPRC Members

August 28, 1996 Promoted to the Rank of Colonel

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS:

1990 Special Security Officer for Visiting Heads of State of the ECOWAS Summit at Kairaba Beach Hotel

August 1990 Officer in-Charge of ECOWAS Peace Conference for Liberia at Kairaba Beach Hotel

1993 Special Officer In-Charge of close protection of visiting ECOMOG Field Commander

February 23 – 24 1992 Officer In-Charge of close protection of Pope John Paul II and entourage

Officer In-Charge of VIP security in State functions including Heads of State

HONOURS:
November 1993 Appointed Honorary Citizen of the State of Georgia, USA

January 27, 1994 Appointed Honorary Lt. Col. ADC, Alabama State Military, USA

1995 Decorated with the highest Libyan Insignia -Grand Commander of The Order AL-FATAH

1996 Decorated with the highest Chinese Insignia -The Order of Brilliant Jade with Grand CORDON of The Republic of China

1997 Awarded the 1997 Pan- African Humanitarian Award by The Pan-African Foundation and The World Council

1997 Nominated Man of The Year by the American Biographical Institute in Raleigh,North Carolina, USA

1998 Awarded The Gold Record of Achievement for 1997by The American Biographical Institute in Raleigh, North Carolina,USA

September 1998 Appointed Honorary Admiral, Alabama State Navy by the Governor of The State of Alabama

November 1998 Awarded the Grand Order of Bravery by the Libyan Leader Colonel Muammar Gadaffi

December 1998 Awarded the Islamic Worldwide “Grand Prix” by The Cheikhna Cheikh Saad Bouh Foundation of Dakar, Senegal

February 1999 Awarded the Doctor of Civil Laws Degree from St.Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada

March 1999
Appointed Deputy Governor of American Biographical Institute Research Association (ABIRA) North Carolina, United Stated of America

March 1999 Awarded the 2000 Millennium Medal of Honour from the American Biographical Institute of the United States of America

March 1999 Nominated Outstanding People of The 20th Century by the International Biographical Institute, Cambridge, England

April 1999 Nominated 1999 Platinum Record for Exceptional Performance by the American Biographical Institute,raleigh, North Carolina,USA

April 1999 Awarded the World Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Biographcal Institute,Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

September 1999 Decorated with Libya’s Highest Honour The African Medal by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gadaffi

July 2000 Decorated with Orders of The Distinction of Liberia

March 2001 Decorated with Grand Croix dans l’Ordre National du Lion

OFFICES HELD

July 22, 1994 Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council and Head of State

September 8, 1996 Retired from the Army

September 27, 1996 Elected First President of The Second Republic of The Gambia

October 18, 1996 Became President of The Republic of The Gambia

September 1997
to
November 2000 Chairman of the Inter-states Committee for the Control of Drought in the Sahel (CILSS) (Elected during the 12th Conference of Heads of State and Government of CILSS held in The Gambia in September 1997)

November 2001 Elected 1st Vice Chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) during its 9th Meeting of Heads of State and Government held in Doha, Qatar
Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of West African Monetary Zone 2005
HOBBIES
Playing Tennis,
Playing Soccer,
Hunting in the Forests,
Reading,
Correspondence,
Driving and Riding Motorcycles, Browsing the Internet,
Watching Music Movies,
Animal Rearing and
Keenly following world events.
SPECIAL SKILLS
Possesses extensive knowledge in traditional herbal therapy especially in the treatment of Asthma and Epilepsy.

Mario Monti (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who is Prime Minister of Italy, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance, since November 2011. Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the Internal Market, Services, Customs and Taxation from 1995 to 1999 and then for Competition from 1999 to 2004. He has also been Rector and President of Bocconi University. Monti was appointed a Senator for Life in the Italian Senate on 9 November 2011, and three days later was invited by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a new technocratic government in Italy following the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi.

Mario Monti was born in Varese on 19 March 1943. His father hailed from Varese (though he spent much of his life in Argentina after emigrating during World War II), and his mother was born in Piacenza. Mario Monti holds a degree in economics and management from Bocconi University, Milan. He completed graduate studies at Yale University, where he studied under James Tobin, the Nobel prize-winning economist.

He taught economics at the University of Turin from 1970 to 1985 before moving to Bocconi University, where he was its Rector from 1999 to 2001, and has been its President since 1994. He was also the President of SUERF (The European Money and Finance Forum) from 1982 to 1985. His research has helped to create the ‘Klein-Monti model’, aimed at describing the behaviour of banks operating under monopoly circumstances.

Monti is a member of the Presiderium of the Friends of Europe, a leading European think tank, and was the first chairman of Bruegel, a European think tank founded in 2005. He is the European Chairman of the Trilateral Commission, a think tank founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller. He is also a leading member of the exclusive Bilderberg Group.

Monti has been an international advisor to Goldman Sachs and The Coca-Cola Company.

On 9 November 2011, Monti was appointed a Lifetime Senator by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. Mario Monti was seen as a favorite to replace Silvio Berlusconi to lead a new unity government in Italy in order to implement reforms and austerity measures. On 12 November 2011, following Berlusconi’s resignation, Napolitano invited Monti to form a new government. Monti accepted the offer, and held talks with the leaders of Italy’s political parties, saying that he wanted to form a government that would remain in office until the next scheduled elections in 2013. On 16 November 2011, Monti unveiled a technocratic cabinet, and was officially sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy. He also appointed himself as Minister of Economy and Finance.

Mario Monti is married, and has two children.

Known for his reserved character, Monti acknowledges not being especially sociable, explaining that his youth was given over to hard study, alongside spare time activities such as cycling and keeping up with world affairs by tuning in to foreign short wave radio stations.

Silvio Berlusconi, Former Prime Minister of Italy (resigned on Nov 12, 2011)

Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy

Born in Milan September 29, 1936. Married, five children. He lives in Milan.

Graduated in Law with honors. Entrepreneur.

Knight’s work. In 1962 he began working in the area of the building contractors. Be the first Italian player in the development of residential and commercial centers (Milan 2, Milan 3, Sunflower). In 1980 he founded Channel 5, the first national television network, in addition, Italy 1 (1982) and Rete 4 (1984). The commercial success of the TV allows you to develop various initiatives, insert, like all other companies within the parent holding company Fininvest, founded in 1978.

Spread so commercial television in Europe: France La Cinq (1986), Germany Telefünf (1987), Telecinco in Spain (1989). With the Mondadori (1989) becomes the main Italian publisher in books and periodicals. The Fininvest Group, with Mediolanum and Italy Program, to develop a strong presence in insurance and financial products. President since 1986 is the football team AC Milan which led to being the first club in the world for the number of international victories. On January 26, 1994 he resigned all his positions in Fininvest.

Foreign Languages

French and English.

POLITICAL PROFILE

Positions of party and political activity

Founder and President of the political movement Forza Italy. ”
Founder and President of the Political Movement “People of Freedom.”

Institutional charges and parliamentary activity

In the XII legislature was Prime Minister from May to December 1994. Later he was part of the 3rd Standing Committee – Foreign and Community Affairs. In 1994 he participated in elections to the European Parliament shall be elected in all five boroughs Italian, but has not joined the Assembly for incompatibility with the office of President of the Council then held. In the XIII legislature has been part of the 3rd Standing Committee – Foreign and Community Affairs, the 1st Standing Committee – Constitutional Affairs, the Council Presidency and interior of the parliamentary commission for constitutional reforms, the Italian Parliamentary Delegation to the Assembly of the Council ‘s Europe and the Italian parliamentary delegation to the Assembly of Western European Union. In 1999, reelected to Parliament, V term, resigned June 10, 2001 for incompatibility with the office of President of the Council of Ministers, who served in the XIV legislature of the National Parliament. Interim Minister for Foreign Affairs on 6 January 2002 to November 14, 2002, Interim Minister of Economy and Finance 3 to 16 July 2004 and interim Minister of Health 11 March 2006.

On November 18, 2007 in Piazza San Babila in Milan announces the birth of the future movement “People of Freedom” which is actually founded February 27, 2008.

With the same movement won the parliamentary elections of 13 and 14 April 2008.
In the sixteenth term becomes President of the Council of Ministers for the fourth time.

13-14 April 2008 elections

Elected to the House in the list The People of Freedom in the Molise Region XVIII with 71,994 votes equal to 36.48%.

Previous elections

Elected in the 1994 consultation, the College District No. 1 of the XV-Lazio 1, with 34,534 votes – 46.3%. Linked lists: Forza Italy, the National Alliance. Reelected in 1996 with the Pole for Freedom in College 1 – 1 Milan, Lombardy 1 of the Third District, with 46,135 votes – 51, 5%. Linked lists: Forza Italy.

Confirmed in 2001 with the House of Freedoms in the College # 1 – 1 Milan, the Lombardy Region III 1 with 42,086 votes – 53.7%. Linked lists: Forza Italy.

Reelected in 2006 in Italy in the nineteenth Force list Campania Region 1 with 492,594 votes equal to 27.23%. Linked lists: Forza Italy.

Assignments and activities in local authorities

City Councilman at the Commune of Milan from 27 April 1997 to May 12, 2001, from May 13 to November 9, 2001, from 28 May 2006 to 12 May 2008.

Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italy

Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italy

Giorgio Napolitano was born in Naples on June 29th, 1925.

He graduated in law from Naples University in December 1947, with a dissertation on political economy entitled Il mancato sviluppo industriale del Mezzogiorno dopo l’unità e la legge speciale per Napoli del 1904 (The Failure to Bring about Industrial Development in Southern Italy after Italy’s Unification and Special Legislation for Naples in 1904). In 1945-46 he engaged actively in the Student Faculty Councils movement, and was a delegate to the first National University Congress.

In 1942, as un undergraduate in Naples, he joined a group of young anti-Fascists and in 1945 he joined the Italian Communist Party, of which he was a militant and then a leading figure until the Democratic Party of the Left was established.

From the autumn of 1946 to the spring of 1948 he was a member of the  Secretariat of the Italian Economic Centre for Southern Italy, chaired by Senator Paratore. He took also an active part for over 10 years in the Movement for the Rebirth of Southern Italy, since its foundation in December 1947.

He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1953, and with the exception of the 4th Parliament he was a Member of Parliament until 1996, always re-elected in the Naples constituency.

His parliamentary activity began as a member of the Budget and State Holdings Committee, and focused – also in debates on the Floor of the House – on the issues of Southern Italy’s development and national economic policy.

In the 8th (from 1981) and 9th Parliaments (until 1986) he chaired the Communist group at the Chamber of Deputies.

During the 1980s his activity focused on international and European policy issues, both as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and (from 1984 to 1992 and from 1994 to 1996) of the Italian delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly, and also through manifold political and cultural initiatives. As far back as the 1970s he was an active lecturer abroad, visiting International Policy Institutes in the UK and Germany and several US Universities (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Chicago, Berkeley, SAIS and CSIS in Washington).

From 1989 to 1992 he was a Member of the European Parliament.
On June 3rd 1992, in the 11th Parliament, he was elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, and remained in office until the end of that Parliament in April 1994.

During the 12th Parliament he was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Chairman of the Special Committee on the Reorganisation of Broadcasting Sector.

During the 13th Parliament he served as Minister of the Interior and for the Coordination of Civil Protection in the Prodi Government, from May 1996 to October 1998.

Since 1995 he has been the President of the Italian Council of the European Movement.

From June 1999 to June 2004 he chaired the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

In the 14th Parliament the then Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Pier Ferdinando Casini, appointed him as Chairman of the Foundation of the Chamber of Deputies, an office which he held until the end of that Parliament.

On  September 23rd 2005 he was appointed life senator by the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

On May 10th 2006 he was elected President of the Republic with 543 votes. He was sworn-in on May 15th, 2006.

In acknowledgement of hid dedication to the cause of Parliamentary democracy and his contribution to the rapprochement between the Italian Left and European Socialism, in 1997 he was awarded the Leibnitz-Ring International Award in Hannover for his “lifelong” commitment.

In 2004 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Political Science from Bari University.

He contributed in particular to the journal Società (Society) and, from 1954 to 1960, to the journal Cronache meridionali (Southern Chronicles), with essays on the Mezzogiorno (South of Italy) debate following the Liberation, on the thinking of Guido Dorso, on agricultural reform policies and on Manlio Rossi-Doria’s theses on the industrialisation of Southern Italy. In 1962 he published his first book Movimento operaio e industria di Stato (Workers’ Movement and State Industry), with special reference to the analysis of Pasquale Saraceno.

In 1975 he published the book Intervista sul PCI (The Italian Road to Socialism: An Interview by Eric Hobsbawm with Giorgio Napolitano of the Italian Communist Party), which was translated and published in over 10 countries.

In 1979 he wrote In mezzo al guado (At Mid-Crossing), about the period of the so-called “democratic solidarity” (from 1976 to 1979), when he acted as spokesperson for the PCI and handled relations with the Andreotti government on economic and trade union issues.

In 1988, in his book Oltre i vecchi confini (Beyond Old Boundaries), he addressed the problems that arose in the years of the thaw in relations between East and West, at the time of President Reagan in the USA and President Gorbachev in the USSR.

His work Al di là del guado: la scelta riformista (Beyond the Crossing: the Reformist Choice) collects his public addresses from 1986 to 1990.

The book Europa e America dopo l’89 (Europe and America after 1989), published in 1992, is a collection of lectures he gave in the United States after the fall of the Berlin wall and the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe.

In 1994 he published, partly in the form of a personal diary, the book Dove va la Repubblica – Una transizione incompiuta (Where the Republic is Heading – An Unfinished Transition), on the period of the 11th Parliament, form his viewpoint as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.

In 2002, he published his book Europa politica (A Political Europe), at the height of his activity as Chairman of the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

His latest book Dal PCI al socialismo europeo: un’autobiografia politica (From the PCI to European Socialism: a Political Autobiography) was published in 2005.

Constituency: Gizo/ Kolombangara, Western Province

Contact Address:

Ministry of Environment and Conservation
P.O. Box G13
Honiara
Solomon Islands.
Phone: +677 28611/ 22453
Fax: +677 28735

Parliamentary Service

• Elected to the National Parliament of Solomon Islands for Gizo/ Kolombangara Constituency in 5 December 2001. Re-elected in 5 April 2006.

Other Appointments

• Official Leader of Independent Group in Parliament as of 17 December 2001 to 4 April 2006.

Ministerial Appointments

• Minister for Environment and Conservation from 22 December 2007 to present
• Minister for Justice and Legal Affairs from 8 to 10 November 2007
• Minister of Finance from May 2006 to 8 November 2007

Qualifications

• Master of Development and Administration, Australian National University
• Postgraduate Diploma, University of Papua New Guinea
• Bachelor of Economic, University of Papua New Guinea

Occupation before entering Parliament

• Permanent Secretary for Ministry of  Finance
• Permanent Secretary Ministry of Forestry, Environment & Conservation.

Conferences, Delegations, Visits

• Annual Board of Governors meeting of World Bank/International Monetary Fund and Australian Development Bank .

Personal

• Date of birth: 28 August 1965
• Village/ Home Island: Ghatere, Kolombangara island

Derek Sikua, Former Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands

Derek Sikua, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands

Dr. Derek Sikua is the 9th Prime Minister of Solomon Islands.

A career public servant, Dr. Derek Sikua was elected to Parliament in April 2006 as MP for North East Guadalcanal.  Under the leadership of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Sikua served as Minister of Education and Human Resources Development. In November 2007 he resigned his cabinet position and joined the Opposition.  Dr Sikua then tabled a motion of no-confidence which was successfully carried through on December 13 2007.  He was elected Prime Minister by Parliament on December 20, 2007, receiving 32 votes against 15 for government candidate Patteson Oti. He was sworn in on the same day and his Cabinet was sworn in on December 21 and December 22.

Sikua is from Ngalitavethi Village on the main island of Guadalcanal. He was Under Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development from April 1993 to February 1994, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development from February 1994 to November 1997, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Forests, Environment and Conservation from November 1997 to January 1998, Permanent Secretary with Special Duties at the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development from May 2003 to September 7, 2003, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development from September 8, 2003 to December 31, 2005.

Source: http://www.pmc.gov.sb

Sprent Jared Dabwido was born on September 16, 1972. Dabwido is a close relative of former parliamentarian Audi Dabwido, who served in the first parliament of Nauru in 1968. Dabwido was elected to parliament in the 2004 general elections, defeating Nimrod Botelanga to win the seat of Meneng. He has been subsequently re-elected in 2007 and 2008. He was a member of Marcus Stephen’s parliamentary faction and became the Minister for Telecommunications in Stephen’s government. He announced the introduction of mobile phones to Nauru in 2009. Stephen resigned on 10 November 2011 and was replaced by another member of his faction, Freddie Pitcher. At the next meeting of parliament on 15 November Dabwido announced that he had joined the opposition and then successfully moved a motion of no confidence against Pitcher. He was subsequently elected as president by a margin of 9 – 8.

Marcus Ajamada Stephen, Former President of Nauru (resigned on Nov 10, 2011)

Marcus Ajamada Stephen, President of Nauru

Marcus Ajamada Stephen (born October 1, 1969) is the current President of the Republic of Nauru, having taken office in December 2007. He is also a former top-class weightlifter, winner of seven gold medals and five silver at the Commonwealth Games, and the current president of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation.

Marcus Stephen’s father, Lawrence Stephen, served as a Member of the Parliament of Nauru from 1971-1977 and 1980-1986. He is related to the prominent Keke family of Nauru.

Sporting career

Medal record
Weightlifting
Commonwealth Games
Gold 1990 Auckland 60 kg sntach
Silver 1990 Auckland 60 kg clean & jerk
Silver 1990 Auckland 60 kg combined
Gold 1994 Victoria 59 kg sntach
Gold 1994 Victoria 59 kg clean & jerk
Gold 1994 Victoria 59 kg combined
Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 62 kg sntach
Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 62 kg clean & jerk
Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 62 kg combined
Silver 2002 Manchester 62 kg sntach
Silver 2002 Manchester 62 kg clean & jerk
Silver 2002 Manchester 62 kg combined
World Championship
Silver 1999 Athens 62 kg clean & jerk

He initially played Australian rules football for the local team the Aces, but opted to pursue the sport of weightlifting. In 1989 the Nauru Weightlifting Federation (NWF) was founded, primarily to give Stephen, the sole top-class weightlifter in Nauru at the time, the opportunity to compete internationally.

In 1992 he took part in his first Olympic Games in Barcelona. Since Nauru had no Olympic Committee at the time, he successfully applied for Samoan citizenship and was allowed to compete for Samoa. In 1993 the committee was founded and Stephen was able to represent Nauru in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

When the Olympic torch was carried to Sydney, Stephen had the honour of being a torch bearer during its stopover in Nauru.

It was at the Commonwealth Games where most of his successes came: In the 1990 Commonwealth Games he surprisingly won a gold medal in the Snatch in the 60 kg class. In the 1994 Commonwealth Games he won three gold medals in the 59 kg class and in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in the 62 kg class he collected three more golds. In his last Games, the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester he won three silvers in the 62 kg class.

His greatest triumph came at the 1999 World Championship in Athens, where he was runner up in the clean and jerk in the 62 kg class.
In 2005 he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.

In March 2008, it was reported that Stephen had been appointed to the presidency of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation, the Pacific region’s official continental weightlifting body.

Since 1997 he has been the Treasurer of the Nauru Olympic Committee. On 3 May 2003 Stephen was elected to the Nauru parliament with a score of just over 215 points, achieving first place in the Ewa and Anetan constituency.

During the presidency of René Harris Stephen was Education and Finance Minister of Nauru from 8 August 2003 until 22 June 2004, a post he had to relinquish when Ludwig Scotty became the new president. In October 2004 he was re-elected to parliament.

After Nauru joined the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on 15 June 2005, Stephen was nominated as a delegate for Nauru. He represented Nauru at the IWC-Congress in June 2005 in the South Korean city of Ulsan.

Stephen was re-elected to parliament in the August 2007 parliamentary election. He unsuccessfully stood as a presidential candidate in the vote held in parliament on August 28, in which Scotty was re-elected.

However, following a successful vote of no confidence in Parliament against President Scotty on 19 December 2007, Marcus Stephen was sworn in as President of Nauru.

Ludwig Derangadage Scotty, Former President of Nauru

Ludwig Derangadage Scotty, Former President of Nauru

Ludwig Derangadage Scotty (b. June 20, 1948, in Anabar) was President of the Republic of Nauru from May 29, 2003 to August 8, 2003, and was restored to the presidency on June 22, 2004.

Hailing from Anabar district, Ludwig served as Speaker of Parliament from the late 1990s until 2000. During the caretaker administration of Derog Gioura, Ludwig was elected President of Nauru by a parliamentary vote of 10-7, defeating Centre Party leader and former President Kinza Clodumar. With the blessings of the outgoing Gioura administration, President Ludwig committed to paying the country’s civil servants after suffering near-bankruptcy, strengthening relations with the United States and discovering ways to develop a sustainable economy.

President Ludwig’s cabinet included himself as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baron D. Waqa of Boe district as Minister of Education, David Adeang of Ubenide as Minister of Finance, Dr. Kieren Keke of Yaren as Minister of Health, Russel E. Kun of Ubenide as Minister of Justice and Dogabe A. Jeremiah of Meneng as Minister of Public Works.

Ludwig was ousted in a vote of no confidence in August 2003 and was replaced by René Harris. He returned as President on June 22, 2004 after a member of the Parliament of Nauru defected. Ludwig was re-elected to Parliament in elections in October 2004, and most of his allies also did well.

Lucas Papademos, Prime Minister of Greece

Lucas Demetrios Papademos (born 11 October 1947) is a Greek economist and the interim Prime Minister of Greece. He was appointed Prime Minister in November 2011 after the head of the governing party, George Papandreou, decided to step down, and allow a provisional coalition government to form with the task to take Greece out of a major political crisis caused by the country’s debt crisis. He is also currently serving as a visiting professor of public policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Born in Athens, Papademos attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gaining a degree in physics in 1970, a masters degree in electrical engineering in 1972, and a doctorate in economics, in 1978.

He followed an academic career at Columbia University where he taught economics from 1975 until 1984, and then at the University of Athens from 1988 to 1993.

He has served as Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 1980. He joined the Bank of Greece in 1985 as Chief Economist, rising to Deputy Governor in 1993 and Governor in 1994. During his time as Governor of the national bank, Papademos was involved in Greece’s transition from the drachma to the euro as its national currency.

After leaving the Bank of Greece in 2002, Papademos became the Vice President to Jean-Claude Trichet at the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010. In 2010 he left that position to serve as an advisor to Prime Minister George Papandreou.

He has been a member of the Trilateral Commission since 1998.

He is a member of the Academy of Athens. He has published numerous articles in the fields of macroeconomic theory, the structure and functioning of financial markets, monetary analysis and policy as well as on subjects concerning the economic performance, financial stability and economic policy in the European Union. He has also delivered addresses on the Greek debt crisis.

His name has been mentioned among Nikiforos Diamandouros and Stavros Dimas as a potential candidate for Prime Minister of Greece of the interim government decided between George Papandreou government and Antonis Samaras opposition in November 2011.

On 10 November 2011, he was named as Prime Minister, the 183rd governor of modern Greece history.

George Papandreou, Former Prime Minister of Greece (quit office on Nov 7, 2011)

George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece

Date of Birth: June 16, 1952

Place of Birth: St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.

Marital Status: Wife Ada
Children: Andreas (birth date 1982), Margarita-Elena (birth date 1990)

Education: Athens College
Athens, Greece
York Highschool
Elmhurst, Illinois, U.S.A.

Viggbyholmskolan
Stockholm, Sweden

King City Secondary School
Toronto, Canada, 1970 (Secondary School Certificate)

University Level: Honorary doctorate in law
Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA (2002)
BA Degree in Sociology
Amhest College, Amherst, MA, USA (1970-75)

Undergraduate studies (Sociology)
Stockholm University, Sweden (1972-73)

M. Sc. Degree in Sociology and Development
London School of Economics – LSE (1976-77)

Fellow at the Center for International Affairs (CFIA)
Harvard University, Cambrdige, MA, USA (1992-1993)

Languages: English, Swedish
Activities: In the Government:
Prime Minister (October 2009 – )

Minister of Foreign Affairs (February 1999 – February 2004)
Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs (September 1996 – February 1)
Government Coordinator of 2004 Olympic Games Bid (1996-1997)
Minister of Education and Religious Affairs (July 1994-October 1996)
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Oct. 1993 – Jul. 1994)
Responsible for US -Greek Relations. Took part in Greek Presidency’s negotiations on the new EU membership of Sweden, Finland, Austria and Norway
Minister of Education and Religious Affairs (1988 – 1989)
Government Coordinator of 1996 Olympic Games Hellenic Candidacy (1988-1989)
Ministry of Culture, Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs (July 1985-February 1987)
In charge of (a) Greeks of the Diaspora Affairs, (b) Adult Education – Continuing Education and Youth Affairs

In the Parliament:

Member of Parliament
First District of Salonika (2004-present)

Member of Parliament
First District of Athens (1996-2004)
Member of Parliament
District of Achaia (Patras) (1981-1996)
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee of Education για την Παιδε?α (1982 – 1985)
Vice-Chairperson of the cross – party Parliamentary Committee for Free Radio (1987)
In Charge of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Education (1989-93)

Party Work:

President of PASOK (8 February 2004 – present)
Elected Member of the Executive Office and the Political Bureau of PASOK (July 1996-present)
Elected Member of the Central Committee of PASOK (1984-present)
Elected Member of the Executive Office PASOK (1987-1988)
Elected Secretary for the Committee on the Greek Diaspora (1990-1993)

PASOK Political Committee Service between 1975-1985:

Committee for Studies, Publications and Seminars (Secretary)
Agricultural Cooperatives (Secretary)
Organization Committee (Deputy Secretary)
International Relations (Member)

Other Activities:

President of the Socialist International (Αthens, 2006)
Vice-President of the Socialist International (Ramallah, 2005)
Vice-President of the International Olympic Truce Centre
Founding Member of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly (Prague, 1990)
Founding Member of the Lagonisi Initiative on Cooperation in the Balkans (1994)
Responsible for Government Coordinator for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games (1997)
Member of the Board of the Foundation of Mediterranean Studies
Member of the Board of the Foundation for Research and Self-Education
Member of Research Teams at the Foundation of Mediterranean Studies
Member of the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Foundation For Peace

Honours:

Distinguished Professor in the Center for Hellenic Studies – Georgia State College of Arts and Science (April 2006)
Open Fields Award Truce Foundation USA (April 2006)
Peru, Lima – Gran Cruz ” El Sol du Peru ” (October 31, 2003)
USA, Washington – Recipient: Defender of Democracy- of Parliamentarians for Global Action (17 September, 2003)
Italy-Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (2003)
Hungary-Grand Commander of the Order of the Merit (2003)
Awarded, during the United States Sport Academy (U.S.S.A.) School’s 30th anniversary celebration, the Jackie Robinson Humanitarian Award (July, 26 2002)
Vatican-Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX (Athens, November 11, 2002)
Portugal-Grand Cross of the Order of Infante dom Henrique (2002)
Belgium-Grand Cross of the Order of Crown (2001)
Spain-Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2001)
Germany-Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, first class (2000)
Eastwest Institute 2000 Awards – Peace Building Awards . The 2000 “Statesman of the Year Award” given to Foreign Minister George Papandreou of Greece and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem of Turkey for their great efforts at improving relations between their respective countries (May 2, 2000)
Austria-Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, first class (1999)
Estonia-Grand Cross of the Order of the White Star (1999)
Sweden-Grand Cross of the Order of Polar Star (1999)
Recipient of the ” Botsis’s Foundation for the Promotion of Journalism ” award for “his multifaceted struggles, which established the Free Radio as part of our democratic institutions” (June 1988)
Spain-Grand Cross of the Order of thw Civil Merit (1998)
Abdi Ipekci special award for Peace and Friendship ( June 1997) “for his activities in favor of Greek-Turkish approach during the period 1995-1996 while serving as Minister of National Education and Religion”
Recipient of the ” SOS against Racism, and affiliated organizations ” Committee award, for his work against racism and anti-Semitism (April 1996)
Poland-Grand Commander of the Order of the Polish Republic (1996)
Finland-Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion (1996)
Ukraine-Commander of the Order of the Yaroslav (1996)

Karolos Papoulias, President of Greece

Karolos Papoulias, President of Greece

Karolos Papoulias was sworn in as President of Greece on 12 March 2005, after having been elected by an unprecedented 279 votes in the country’s 300-seat parliament. A founding member of the opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), the 75-year-old Papoulias won support both from his own party and from the ruling center-right New Democracy party, which nominated him to succeed Kostis Stephanopoulos in the largely ceremonial post.

In the course of his long career, Papoulias has been a pole vault champion, an attorney, a political activist, a member of parliament, an official of the national volleyball team, and president of the National Athletics Association.

He was born in Ioannina in 1929. After legal studies in Athens and Milan, he obtained his PhD at Cologne University and went on to practice law from 1963 to 1981. He was in Germany at the time of the 1967 military coup in Greece. During the next seven years, Papoulias helped found a student resistance organisation and broadcast regularly on Deutsche Welle’s Greek service, denouncing the colonels.

In 1977, Papoulias entered parliament for the first time, representing the Ioannina electoral district as an MP on the PASOK ticket. He was re-elected eight times, serving a total of 27 years. A close associate of the late Greek prime minister Andreas Papandreou, he has been a consistent influence in the foreign policy of successive PASOK governments, serving as deputy foreign minister from 1981-1984, as foreign minister from 1985-1990, and again as foreign minister from 1993-1996. In 1995, he was elected to the party’s executive bureau and political secretariat.

Following the 1996 general elections, Papoulias became head of Greece’s parliamentary representation to the OSCE. In June 2000, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the International Olympic Truce Foundation.

Papoulias will serve a five-year term. He is married and has three daughters.