Lars Engqvist is a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 politician. He served as chairman of the youth organization of the Swedish Social Democrats from 1972 to 1978, and then worked as a journalist and editor-in-chief. In the early 1990s he was the mayor of Malmö

Malmö

Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...

, and then president of the Swedish Film Institute

Swedish Film Institute

The Swedish Film Institute was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the Filmhuset building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm...

 before receiving his first government appointment in 1998.

On June 1, 2004 he was appointed as deputy Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Sweden

The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...

 of the Swedish government

Government of Sweden

The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...

. The main reason for the appointment was to make him acting the prime minister under Göran Persson

Göran Persson

Hans Göran Persson was the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Conceding defeat in the September 2006 general election, he announced that he would resign as party leader, and Mona Sahlin was elected to succeed him as...

, when the latter received knee surgery in early June. The appointment will not affect his status as the Minister of Health and Social Affairs, but at the same time it was also announced that Enqvist will step down from his government posts on October 1, to become the new Governor of Jönköping County

Jönköping County

Jönköping County is a county or län in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The capital is Jönköping.- Provinces :...

.

In April 2005 he was appointed as chairman of the Swedish public service television company Sveriges Television

Sveriges Television

Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...

, succeeding Allan Larsson

Allan Larsson

Allan Larsson is a former Swedish Social Democratic politician. From 1990 to 1991 he served as Minister for Finance.From Sweden's entry into the European Union in 1995 to 2000, Larsson served as Director General for DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities in the European Commission...

. The appointment drew criticism because of his close ties to the Social Democratic Party and the government.