Minister
Jan O. Karlsson's tenure as minister was far from smooth, his relation with the local press was troublesome, often attributed to his late father, who also was a high ranking social democratic politician, who died of a heart attack during an interview with a journalist. In spite of a number of minor political scandals - he, among other things, referred to George W. Bush as "that damn Texan old man" ("den där jävla texasgubben") and abruptly murmured (with a microphone attached to his jacket) "now we better see an end to these gay issues" (nu får det väl vara slut på de här bögfrågorna) during a SIDA conference - he was able to maintain the trust of Prime Minister Göran Persson and keep his place in the Cabinet. His appointment as acting Minister for Foreign Affairs following the death of Anna Lindh on September 11, 2003, was a short term solution. Changes in government, effective on October 10, forced him to resign his post.
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