Stanislav Gross
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Stanislav Gross (IPA: [ˈstaɲislaf ˈɡrɔs]) (born October 30, 1969 in Prague) is a Czech politician, member of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). He served as minister of the interior (2000 - 2004) and as prime minister of the Czech Republic (2004 - 2005).
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[edit] Early political career
Gross briefly worked for the state railways company (České dráhy) as an engine-driver trainee. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, he became a member of the Social Democratic party and in 1992 member of the parliament. After studies in law from 1993 to 1999 he obtained an academic title, although under less than normal conditions.
[edit] Minister of interior
On April 5, 2000 he was named interior minister in the government of Miloš Zeman. After elections in 2002, Gross continued as interior minister and became deputy prime minister in the government of Vladimír Špidla.
During his service, several scandals in the police had leaked out: corruption among the highest officials, irregularities in business tenders, and failure to solve serial murders. Gross claimed this is due to a better ability to discover such behaviour within the police force. Gross was also criticized for installing his friends and allies as executives in state-owned companies and for misuse of secret services for political aims.
In spite of these problems, Gross was able to maintain higher popularity than other politicians (its peak was over 70%). His youthful, photogenic appearance, skill in dealing with media and unwillingness to get involved in controversial decisions or discussions helped.
[edit] Prime minister
In the 2004 EP Election, ČSSD lost badly and the popularity of the party was low; this led to the resignation of Špidla on July 26. Gross was appointed prime minister on August 4, 2004 and his government was approved on August 24.
Gross was seen by his party as the last way to regain popularity and better handle future elections. This was proved wrong; in elections for regional assemblies and Senate elections, the Social Democrats failed again.
His popularity started to decline and involvement in new scandals (e.g., taking people from the former communist secret service as coworkers, another wave of corruption in the police, suspicion regarding the privatization of state companies) accelerated the decline.
Gross claimed he would modernize the party on lines similar to those followed by Tony Blair, but his short time in office and constant involvement with scandals did not give him any time to implement changes.
[edit] Scandal
Since January 2005, Gross has been facing a scandal related to unclear origins of the loan to buy his flat. It was found that his wife has a business association with a brothel owner suspected of insurance fraud and money laundering1. Criticism from the media and record public dissatisfaction grew into a government crisis. For three months, Gross tried to keep himself in power until he was forced to resign on April 25, 2005. His popularity sunk to a record low, and trust in politicians among Czech people was shattered. Only the fact that even such a powerful politician was, at the end, forced to step down was seen as a positive side of the whole scandal.
In September 2005 Gross stepped down from his remaining position of party leader. The reason was growing suspicion about massive corruption during the privatisation of chemical conglomerate Unipetrol to the Polish PKN Orlen, involving Gross². A further political career is unlikely for him.
1This person was later sentenced for insurance fraud to five years in prison. She claims it is the result of conspiracy [1].
² Gross denies all accusations as an absurd conspiration against him [2].
[edit] External links
- Official biography in Czech
- Czech PM faces corruption claim - BBC News, Feb 2, 2005
- Coverage in Prague Post
| Preceded by Vladimír Špidla |
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic 2004–2005 |
Succeeded by Jiří Paroubek |
| Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic |  |
|---|---|
| Czech Socialist Republic / Czech Republic (as part of Czechoslovakia): Stanislav Rázl (1969) • Josef Kempný (1969-1970) • Josef Korčák (1970-1987) • Ladislav Adamec (1987-1988) • František Pitra (1988-1990) • Petr Pithart (1990-1992) • Václav Klaus (1992) Czech Republic: Václav Klaus (1993-1997) • Josef Tošovský (1997-1998) • Miloš Zeman (1998-2002) • Vladimír Špidla (2002-2004) • Stanislav Gross (2004-2005) • Jiří Paroubek (2005-2006) • Mirek Topolánek (2006-present) |
