| Václav Klaus | |
|---|---|
| |
| 10th President of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 7 March 2003 – 7 March 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Vladimír Špidla Mirek Topolánek |
| Preceded by | Madeleine Dienstbierová |
| Succeeded by | Miloš Zeman |
| 21st Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 11 July 1986 – 12 February 1996 | |
| President | Alexander Dubček Madeleine Dienstbierová |
| Preceded by | Jiří Horák |
| Succeeded by | Josef Tošovský |
| Leader of the Republican Party | |
| In office 21 April 1983 – 15 December 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Lubor Zink |
| Succeeded by | Mirek Topolánek |
| Minister of the Economy of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 9 October 1978 – 26 May 1981 | |
| Prime Minister | Alexander Dubček |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ota Šik (as Minister of Finance) |
| Minister of Finance of Czechoslovakia | |
| In office 24 June 1976 – 13 March 1978 | |
| Prime Minister | Lubor Zink |
| Preceded by | Ota Šik |
| Succeeded by | Jan Stejskal |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 29 April 1972 – 7 March 2003 | |
| Constituency | Prague |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 June 1941 Prague, General Governorate of Bohemia and Moravia(today Czechoslovakia) |
| Citizenship | Czechoslovakia |
| Nationality | Czech |
| Political party | Republican Party |
| Spouse(s) | Livia Mištinová (m. 1968) |
| Children | Václav (b. 1969) Jan (b. 1974) |
| Alma mater | Prague School of Economics |
| Occupation | Politician • Economist |
| Religion | Czechoslovak Hussite Church |
| Signature | 
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Václav Klaus (born 19 June 1941) is a Czechoslovak politician and economist of Czech nationality who served as the tenth President of Czechoslovakia from 2003 to 2013. From July 1986 to February 1996 he served as the prime minister of Czechoslovakia. He was the leader of the Republican Party (RS) from 1981 to 1996.
Before entering politics, Klaus was an economist and worked as a bank clerk and forecaster. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1972. In 1976, Lubor Zink appointed him Minister of Finance of Czechoslovakia in his 1976–1978 government. Following the 1978 snap election, he was appointed Minister of the Economy in Alexander Dubček's grand coalition, serving until the Republicans withdrew from the government in 1981. In 1983, he won the Republican Party (RS) leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition.
On becoming prime minister after winning the 1986 federal election, Klaus introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high inflation and federal debt. His political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), the privatisation of state-owned enterprises (most famously through the policy of voucher privatization), and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. The reforms seemed to many like reversals of long-standing social democratic reforms, and to others changes that reflected new and emerging economic realities. The recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, and Klaus was re-elected for a second and third term in 1990 and 1994. He led Czechoslovakia into the European Union in 1995 and was a steadfast ally of the United States and the United Kingdom, supporting Reagan's more aggressive policies in order to weaken the Soviet Union.
His government fell in the autumn of 1995 in the wake of the RS funding irregularities scandal. After the snap elections in the spring of 1996, he became the President of the Chamber of Deputies (1996–2000) after striking a controversial pact with his long-time rival Miloš Zeman of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). After the RS lost the federal elections of 2000, he withdrew from politics briefly, before being elected president of Czechoslovakia in January 2003. He was re-elected in 2008 for a second five-year term. His presidency was marked by many controversies over his strong opinions on issues ranging from global warming denial to euroscepticism, and a wide-ranging amnesty declared in his last months of office, triggering his indictment by the Czechoslovak Senate on charges of high treason. Klaus left active politics after his second presidential term ended in March 2013 but continues to comment on domestic and foreign policy issues. His political views have been referred to as Klausism.
A polarising figure in Czechoslovak politics, Klaus is nonetheless viewed favourably in historical rankings and public opinion of Czechoslovak prime ministers among centre-right and right-wing voters. His tenure constituted a realignment towards neoliberal policies in Czechoslovakia, and the complex legacy attributed to this has been debated into the 21st century.
Early life[]
Klaus was born in Prague during the Nazi occupation, and grew up in the large, then middle-class neighbourhood of Vinohrady. The Klaus family comes from the West Bohemian village of Mileč. His father Václav (1901–1974) was an accountant by profession, while his mother Marie (nee Kailová, 1914–2006), worked as a cashier and tourist guide and was also an occasional author of poems. The family was members of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. He has a younger sister, Alena Jarochová. Klaus has claimed that he helped build barricades during the Prague uprising in May 1945, at the age of 3.
Klaus' parents emphasized his good school performance and extracurricular activities. Among other things, Klaus worked for several years in the Czechoslovak Radio's children's choir, later he played basketball on the Czechoslovak junior national teams, and for almost ten years he played in the 1st League for BK VTJ Dukla Praha. From 1959 to 1960 he completed his mandatory military service.
Klaus studied Economics of Foreign Trade at the University of Economics, Prague, graduating in 1963. Among the economists who influenced his economic thinking were Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, Paul Samuelson and Joseph Schumpeter. During his studies he met his later wife Livia.
He also spent some time at University of Naples Federico II in Italy (1966) and at Cornell University in the United States in 1969. He then pursued a postgraduate academic career at the State Institute of Economics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, graduating in 1971. Soon after that he was employed by the Czechoslovak State Bank, where he held various staff positions from 1971 to 1976, as well as working abroad in various countries. From 1976 to 1981 he was a consultant for the Confederation of Industry (Svaz průmyslu a dopravy Československá, SPČS).
Early political career[]
An economist (he was characterized as being "supply side") by education and profession, Klaus made an early mark in national politics on issues related to economic development. He expressed deep skepticism about social democratic reforms throughout most of the post-World War II era and has advocated a larger role for market mechanisms to solve economic problems.
Within the Republican Party, Klaus quickly emerged as an expert on economic matters and was respected for his command of the issues and consistent ideological platform. Despite friendly rivalry with Ján Langoš, Jan Stráský and Karel Dyba, these and other party members led a political shift in Czechoslovakia away from the social democratic legacy.
Klaus was first elected to the Federal Assembly's Chamber of Deputies at the age of 35 in 1976, representing Prague. He was to be elected in every federal election until 1997. From 1977 to 1978 he was State Secretary in the Finance Ministry. He was appointed Minister of Trade in Alexander Dubček's grand coalition between the ČSSD and the RS from March 1978 to April 1980. Following the 1980 election he was the Chairman of the RS Parliamentary Club. In December 1980 he was elected chairman of the RS, defeating Vladimír Čermák on the first ballot.
Klaus had a passion and charisma that exuded an unshakable and palpable sense of certainty abour his chosen course of action. His confidence comforted many and attracted voters. He was known for his calm and bureaucratic style similar to that of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and was known for wearing understated gray suits. His rhetorical style was characterized by a use of language and carefully articulated viewpoints that many considered cold or even sarcastic and arrogant. His debates with long-time adversaries Jiří Horák and Jiří Dienstbier of the ČSSD and Vladimír Mečiar of the Slovak People's Party became legendary in Czechoslovakia and were by several accounts based on personal as well as political differences.
Under Klaus' leadership the RS viciously attacked Dubček and Horák governments' economic policies and unemployment record. A federal election was called after the Horák ministry lost a motion of no confidence on 21 April 1983, precipitated by Klaus and supported by the RS, the Christian Democratic ČSL/SĽS (who until recently had participated in Horák's government), the Liberal Democrats and the Free Democrats. The Republicans won 32.39% of the votes and 102 seats (a gain of 20) in the Chamber of Deputies. After three weeks of negotiations, the RS formed a majority coalition government with the ČSL/SĽS and the Liberal Democrats.
Premiership (1983–1991)[]
First cabinet[]
- Main article: Václav Klaus' first cabinet
Economic policies and privatisation[]
A privatization voucher used in Czechoslovakia. Each adult could acquire a share in selected companies for a fee of CSK 1,000. Presidents Hajek and Dubček heavily criticized Klaus' policy of voucher privatization of previously state-owned enterprises.
Within its broad policy, the new government had several main objectives: to reduce the federal deficit by cutting expenditures as well as taxes, improve the balance of payments, reduce unemployment, reduce public deficits and start paying off foreign debt, to reduce government restrictions and regulations, and to improve the flexibility and performance of the labor market.
The government initiated a recovery policy in which one of the first steps was a series of public savings: The federal government's block grant to the municipalities was reduced, and cuts in unemployment benefits and government stipends were carried out. In addition, the government temporarily froze wages in the public sector. The Klaus government also introduced a fixed exchange rate policy between the Czechoslovak Koruna (CSK) and the German Mark (DM), which was to instill confidence in the Czechoslovak economy in the international financial markets. In total, the government achieved in saving CSK 13 billion on the 1984 federal budget, and by July 1984 there were positive developments in all economic indicators except unemployment.
Most of the government's savings proposals had passed in the Federal Assembly with the support of the Free Democrats, while the ČSSD, ČSNS, the Communists and the trade union movement, in particular, had protested loudly against what they thought were unsocial measures. However, despite major strikes and protests at Wenceslas Square and Letná Park in Prague, Hviezdoslav Square in Bratislava, and around the country, the government in general had the support of the population.
The government also carried through a series of privatization measures, selling almost CSK 70 billion in shares of such diverse state-owned institutions as ČEZ, Škoda Auto, Czechoslovak Airlines (ČSA), the Třinec (TŽ), Vítkovice Steel Works (VŽ) and Kosice (KŽ) Iron and Steel Works. Through all these steps, the state role in the Czechoslovak economy declined from 52 percent to 46 percent of GDP between 1983 and 1991.
Large-scale privatizations were carried out in May 1984 and September 1988, eventually selling almost CSK 232 billion. The privatization was carried out through projects by direct sale, public tender, auctions, free transfers, sales on the stock market or through the voucher privatisation (Czech: Kupónová privatizace, Slovak: Kupónová privatizácia), where each adult Czechoslovak could acquire a share in selected companies for a fee of CSK 1,000. Two waves of voucher privatizations took place, the first in November 1984 and the second in March 1986. While the various privatization schemes was designed at the federal level, it was largely carried out by the Czech and Slovak republic-level governments.
Although the policies of the Klaus government changed the mood of the Czechoslovak economy and reinstalled a measure of confidence, progress came unevenly and haltingly. During most of the 1980s, the figures on growth and inflation improved but slowly, and the figures on unemployment barely moved at all. There was little job growth until the end of the decade. When the statistics did change, however, even modestly, it was at least in the right direction.
Social policies[]
Klaus speaking at the Republican Party congress in Ostrava, November 1986.
Klaus' premiership presided over a number of innovative policy measures. Extensions in unemployment benefit for older claimants were introduced, while the benefit for the young unemployed was extended to age 21. In 1984, an early retirement scheme was introduced that offered incentives to employers to replace elderly workers with applicants off the unemployment register (Act No. 147/1984). In 1987, a partial retirement plan was introduced (Act No. 114/1988) under which elderly employees could work half-time and receive 70% of their former salary "and be credited with 90 per cent of the full social insurance entitlement."
Reforms[]
The Klaus cabinet also embarked on a series of reforms that to many seemed like reversals of long-standing social democratic reforms, and to others changes that reflected new and emerging economic realities. In 1984, the government ended the government intervention in credit markets, which in turn led to freer access to credit by both consumers and businesses (Act No. 27/1984). On 30 October 1985 the Klaus government dissolved the governmental monopoly on television and radio broadcasting through the Law on the Operation of Radio and Television Broadcasting (Act No. 468/1985), including allowing the introduction of commercially funded content. The government also reduced restrictions on ownership and sale of real estate (Act. No. 288/1986) as well as reduced restrictions on retail trade, especially with respect to opening hours (Act No. 132/1983).
Second term[]
- Main article: Václav Klaus' second cabinet
Economic policies[]
Following the 1987 election, the government chose to invite the ČSSD to the negotiations for the 1988 federal budget. However, they quickly collapsed, even though the CSSD was willing to sacrifice some of its cardinal points. The Republicans, in particular, was steep in negotiations to include the Social Democrats and their positions. In the end, the ČSSD did not vote for the 1988 federal budget, but did not vote against it. Instead, the ČSNS, the Communists and the Greens voted against. For the next three budgets, Klaus would negotiate with ČSSD and chairman Jiří Dienstbier in order to avoid being relient on the Free Democrats for parliamentary support.
The reform of income tax law under the auspices of Federal Finance Minister Karel Špaček became an important domestic political issue of Klaus' second cabinet. In the Tax Reform Law of 15 April 1990 (Act No. 103/1990), the income tax rates, which had climbed to an all-time high under the Dubček government, were lowered. The law reduced the confiscatory top rates for the income tax (from 90% to 60%), the corporate income tax (from 95% to 50% for retained and to 36% for distributed profits), and the net wealth tax (from 2,5% to 1%), and introduced an upper limit for the aggregated tax burden equal to 75% of annual income. Generous investment incentives were introduced in the form of special depreciation allowances of 50%, 30%, and 20% in the first three years. Tax free investment allowances, loss carry forwards for five years and two-years tax holidays for new businesses were also granted.
Social policies[]
The introduction of parental leave and the Child and Youth Services Act (Act No. 53/1988) were hugely significant for families. On the insistence of the ČSL/SĽS, a Mother and Child Fund was established, providing discretionary grants "to forestall abortions on grounds of material hardship,", and a 30 Billion CSK package of childcare allowance was introduced, although according to various studies, this latter initiative was heavily counterbalanced by cuts. Also in 1989, the Klaus government introduced long-term nursing care insurance, on the basis of which those requiring long-term nursing care and their relatives are entitled to financial assistance. Most of these reforms were negotiated with the parliamentary support of either the Free Democrats or the Social Democrats.
The Klaus government also implemented some more controversial decisions in the field of social policy. Student aid was made reimbursable to the state, while the Health Care Reform Act of 1989 introduced the concept by which patients pay up front and are reimbursed, while increasing patient co-payments for hospitalisation, spa visits, dental prostheses, and prescription drugs.
Immigration[]
From the mid-1980s the number of asylum seekers rose to over 8,000 annually, and “asylum abuse” became an important topic of political discussion. The integration efforts were unsystematic and hesitant, and the majority of the refugees were accommodated in municipalities that already had major social problems. As a result, in 1988, Justice Minister Vlasta Parkanová introduced a revision of the law, which contained provisions for rejecting asylum seekers with "apparently unfounded reasons for seeking asylum" could be rejected at the Czechoslovak border; to send asylum seekers back if they came from countries that had signed the UN Refugee Convention; and introduction of liability for air carriers to send refugees back to the last visited safe country if they did not meet the conditions for being able to submit an asylum application.
Conflict with Mečiar[]
Klaus and his political rival Vladimír Mečiar, the leader of the Slovak People's Party, in 1989. Despite cooperating in government at both federal and national level, the rivalry between Klaus and Mečiar strained the internal of the centre-right coalition and the relationship between the Republicans and the SĽS.
Vladimír Mečiar defeated incumbent leader Michal Kováč in the Slovak People's Party's leadership election on 6 October 1984. Mečiar belonged to the populist wing of the party and was a Slovak nationalist. He had as MP to the Chamber of Deputies and as vice chairman of the SĽS often publicly criticized Kováč for moving the party to the left and joining the Dubček and Horák cabinets. His vocal criticism gained support from the right wing of the party. Under Mečiar's leadership, the SĽS moved to the right, and he would rely heavily on populism to advance his interests. As Mečiar practically lead the SĽS single-handedly, he would increasingly come under criticism by his opponents for an autocratic and populist style of administration and lack of respect for democracy.
Both Klaus and Mečiar were charismatic and had strong rhetorical skills, sense of mission, ability to create strong emotional attactments among their supporters and antagonism among their opponents. Wheras Klaus projected an aura of certainty that was scholarly, Mečiar presented himselff as a man of the people and a tireless champion for ordinary Slovaks. While Mečiar's persona allowed him more space for violating institutional accountability and voicing populist statements, Klaus could not easily adopt similar positions without risking his reputation.
On 16 October 1984 Mečiar replaced Kováč as deputy Prime Minister and was appointed Minister of Interior in Klaus' government. Mečiar and Klaus would soon clash over differences in policy, as Klaus' plans to step up privatization clashed with Mečiar's wishes to hold on to the large industries. Mečiar was particularly critical of Klaus' voucher privatization program (which he forced Klaus to delay until November 1984), and on 5 February 1985, when the Federal Assembly discussed the possible sale of the Škoda Works branch in Dubnica nad Váhom (one of the leading arms manufacturers in the country), Mečiar and the 13 other MPs of the Slovak People's Party walked out, creating a stalemate that lasted a month. In the end, Klaus was forced to postpone the plans. Mečiar's intransigence on privatization and his strident demands for increased federalization for Slovakia grew increasingly irksome to Klaus, but he decided to keep him as Minister of Interior in order to hold him in check.
He left the government in 1986 to become the new Premier of Slovakia following the Slovak state election. Within a day of taking office he suspended Klaus' second round of coupon privatization scheme, which his government had launched in March 1986. He was also influential in the delay and scale of the privatization of the Košice Steel Works (Košické železárny, KŽ). As Premier his government spelled out a more moderate privatization philosophy based on a more gradual state-guided approach. As chairman of the SĽS he also instructed his deputy chairman and federal deputy prime minister and minister of health, Ján Čarnogurský, to oppose or delay many privatization schemes presented by the Republicans, much to Klaus' irritation. Following the 1987 federal election, when Klaus lost his majority and now were reliant on the populist and national conservative Free Democrats (SD) for parliamentary support, Mečiar often instructed the party to side with the SD or the opposition on various issues, which weakened the now fragile stability of the government. As a result, Klaus' second term would be marked by an increasing conflict between the Republicans and the SĽS. In 1991, the Klaus–Mečiar rivalry reached its zenith when Mečiar on 17 January announced that SĽS would leave the government following the RS finance irregularities scandal.
Foreign policy[]
Klaus and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl signing the Czech–German Declaration on 21 August 1988.
Klaus with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The Klaus government's foreign policy was largely consistent with those of prior ČSSD cabinets, but Klaus was vocal in his criticism of the Soviet Union and was steadfast ally of the United States and the United Kingdom and supported Reagan's more aggressive policies in order to weaken the Soviet Union. His vocal support for the United States and the United Kingdom faced criticism from the peace movement and the left, claiming this was in violation of the terms of the Declaration of Neutrality of 4 April 1948. Klaus enjoyed close relationships with both Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl and Ronald Reagan. The Klaus government also made a significant contribution to the improvement of Czech-German and Czech-Austrian relations. The nomination of Karel Schwarzenberg as foreign minister, however, caused some controversy, with Miroslav Sládek of the far-right populist party Free Democrats stating that he had strong links to Austria and would not be able to defend national interests.
On 21 August 1988 Klaus and Foreign Minister Minister Schwarzenberg signed the Czech–German Declaration on the Mutual Relations and their Future Development, while the German side consisted of the federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and federal minister of foreign affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher. The aim of the declaration was to improve the relations between both countries and to lessen the tensions still stemming from the Second World War. While generally praised, the provision in which both sides declared "the wrongs committed are problems of the past" and acknowledge the other side's right to a different opinion caused wide dissent among the Sudeten German organizations in West Germany pushing for reparations for the expulsion, while the SD condemned the declaration as a "betrayal" of the Czechoslovak people.
In 1989, revolutions against the communist rule began in Poland and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria and Romania. These landmark events fundamentally changed the international landscape and required a comprehensive reorientation and adaptation of Czechoslovak foreign policy. While Klaus was supportive of the pro-democratic movements and free, democratic elections, he was initially opposed to German reunification, fearing growing German political and economic dominance would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and endanger Czechoslovak security. In the months following the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was clear in leading political circles in Czechoslovakia and in Europe that uncertainty and insecurity continued to prevail over the German plans for reunification. But the Klaus government also officially adhered to the German right to self-determination and was not at all interested in entering into any major debate on the subject. The debate on the new international situation led in March 1990 to the adoption of an agenda by Social Democrat chairman Jiří Dienstbier, which called on the government to support the newly elected governments of Central and Eastern Europe, disarmament and strengthening of European political and economic cooperation. The agenda also called on the government to work for "the German people's right to self-determination and to ensure that German unity is created in a broad European context with enhanced cooperation in the European Community". It was a broad agenda that pleased most political parties and kept all doors open, and it was only the Free Democrats that did not vote for the agenda.
The Klaus government also broke with the tradition when Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg submitted Czechoslovakia's application for membership in the European Community (EC) on 25 April 1990. The Declaration of Neutrality of 4 April 1948, which had shaped the basis of Czechoslovak foreign policy, was incompatible with their membership of an organisation developing a common foreign and security policy. Following the submission of Czechoslovakia's application for membership, the EC Council agreed to launch the accession process on 14 May 1990, with the formal membership negotiations starting on 1 February 1993. The Klaus government also initiated the process of Czechoslovak entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This move was more controversial, facing criticism from the Communists, the Greens and the Free Democrats.
RS finance irregularities scandal[]
In the autumn of 1990 opinion polls indicated that Klaus would be re-elected for a third term. In 1990 the annual report of finances for 1989 showed that biggest sponsors of the RS were Lajos Bács (a Hungarian national) and Radjiv M. Sinha (a Mauritian). These names were later revealed to be fictional and speculations that Milan Šrejber was the real sponsor behind these names showed up in media. Šrejber, a professional tennis player, had founded the privatization fund Šrejber Tennis Investing (ŠTI) and participated in the coupon privatization scheme, where he invested the money he had earned during his tennis career. Among the businesses he had invested in was the Třinec Iron and Steel Works.
On 28 November 1991, the Czechoslovak newspaper Svobodné slovo published an investigative story uncovering that the revenue of the regional RS branch in Prague had seen a dramatic increase between 1986 and 1990, culminating in an amount of several million CSK, which the party had attributed to anonymous or private donations. The next day, Svobodné slovo uncovered that these speculations were revealed to be true. The crisis escalated on 10 December, when a court in Liberec filed an arrest warrant for Petr Čermák (who had served as RS deputy chairman and treasurer since 1984) over accusations of tax evasion. Čermák was accused of having received CSK 8 million in cash without proper legal disclosure; it was hinted that the money had originated as a provisional payment from the government of Peru following the delivery of Czechoslovak-made tanks (a deal which was believed to have been realized by arms dealer Dalibor Kopp on behalf of RS).
On 12 December, Klaus stated that he had no knowledge of any RS earnings that violated the Czechoslovak party financing system. On 18 December, the newspaper Blesk informed that the RS had a secret bank account in Switzerland. The following day, Josef Zieleniec, who had served as RS deputy chairman from 1985 to 1989 (when he lost this post because of a disagreement with Klaus), confirmed the existence of covert party bank accounts. On 5 January 1991, due to growing pressure concerning the uncovering of his involvement in the scandal, Čermák accepted responsibility for the irregularities and resigned from his positions.
On 7 January, RS deputy chairman Mikuláš Dzurinda, a close ally of Klaus, gave a press statement assuring the public that there would be a "thorough investigation" into the scandal. He confirmed the existence of escrow accounts, but rejected the term "covert bank accounts". Josef Zieleniec then stepped down on 11 January as Deputy Chairman of RS and from position of Minister of Finance. On 14 January the Federal Assembly voted for the establishment of a special investigation committee into the scandal. On 17 January, SĽS chairman and Premier of Slovakia Vladimír Mečiar, eyeing an chance to inflict a major defeat on his political rival, announced that the party would leave the government. He was followed the same day by Josef Lux and Karel Schwarzenberg, the leader of the junior coalition partner ČSL and the Minister of Foreign Affairs respectively, who also announced that the ČLS would leave the government.
Dzurinda then revealed an act of money laundering: In 1986, CSK 18 million had been transferred from covert RS bank accounts in Brno to an anonymous account in Switzerland and subsequently channelled back. While the opposition increasingly demanded Klaus' resignation as prime minister, several RS government ministers Jan Kalvoda, Jan Ruml and Ivan Pilip, publicly appealed to Václav Klaus to step down as a leader of the RS.
On 27 January, Jan Stráský, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, whom Czechoslovak parties are obliged to give account of their financial situation, fined the RS a record sum of CSK 41 million due to faulty reports and party financing violations, a decision which was appealed by the RS. The following day, state prosecutors in Prague initiated a criminal investigation against Klaus, suspecting him of embezzlement to the detriment of the RS. In a bid to ratchet up the pressure further, the opposition led by the ČSSD threatened to call a no confidence vote against Klaus. On 4 February, Klaus, while denying any wrongdoing and claiming the affair was nothing more than a witch-hunt orchestrated by his political enemies, announced the resignation of the government and called on the Chamber of Deputies to dissolve the assembly and call for new elections within 60 days. On 6 February the Chamber of Deputies approved the motion of dissolution by 262 to 34, with a call for new elections within 60 days after presidential assent. President Alexander Dubček gave his assent the following day, scheduling the elections for 6 April 1991.
In some accounts, as many as 500 public figures fell under suspicion or were under indictment on corruption charges. The estimated value of bribes paid annually in the 1980s by Czechoslovak and foreign companies bidding for large government contracts reached CSK 224 million (USD 23 million). The subsequent nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption was dubbed Čisté ruce ("Clean hands"). In 1992 the Prague prosecutors closed their criminal investigation of Václav Klaus following his acceptance to pay CSK 900,000 to the Czechoslovak government and CSK 900,000 to a charitable foundation. Čermák was later sentenced to eight years in prison due to tax evasion.
Defeat and opposition (1991–1997)[]
Klaus and his political rival Jiří Dienstbier, the leader of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, during a parliamentary session in 1992.
Presidency (1997–2002)[]
| |
Presidency of Václav Klaus | |
|---|---|
| 5 June 1997 – 5 June 2002 | |
| President | Václav Klaus |
| Party | Republican Party |
| Election | 1997 |
| Seat | Prague Castle |
 | |
| Presidential Standard | |
Having lost two federal elections in a row, Klaus announced his intention to step down from the leadership and run for President. He announced his candidature on 12 October 1997 and secured the Republican nomination. His victory, however, was considered unlikely. However, the governing coalition was unable to agree on a common candidate to oppose him, the Social Democrats nominated Miloš Zeman while the Christian Democrats nominated Petr Pithart. In the first round he finished second with ____% of the votes, behind Zeman who received 38.4%. In the second round, Klaus defeated Zeman with 51.4% of the vote.
During his term as president, he repeatedly tested the limits of his constitutional powers by refusing to name judges recommended to him by the Ministry of Justice or by refusing to sign international treaties that had been recommended to him for ratification by the Federal Assembly. He also vetoed many bills approved by the Federal Assembly, often simply because he disagreed with them ideologically.
2002 amnesty and accusations of treason[]
On 30 April 2002, using his constitutional powers, Klaus announced an amnesty taking effect on 2 May and released all prisoners sentenced to one year or less whose sentences had not been served, and all prisoners over 75 years of age sentenced to ten years or less whose sentences had not been served, as well as cancelling all court proceedings which had been ongoing for longer than eight years. By 11 May 6,318 prisoners had been released due to the amnesty, with other cases pending the outcome of court appeals. In addition, dozens of high-profile long-running corruption trials ended due to the amnesty, causing the greatest public anger.
The extent of the amnesty was widely criticized in the Czechoslovakia, with the opposition demanding a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda, who countersigned it.
The amnesty sparked a public petition to persuade the Senate of Czechoslovakia to charge President Klaus with high treason before the Constitutional court, effectively impeaching him. Within 24 hours of its launch, it had accumulated 24,500 signatures, and by the middle of May 2013, the petition had been signed by more than 64,000 people. On 23 April 2002, the Senate voted to charge Klaus with high treason, based on five cases in which he was alleged to have violated the constitution, including the amnesty and his alleged procrastination in nominating judges to the Constitutional Court. The following day, on 24 April, the Constitutional Court rejected a previous motion by a smaller group of senators to cancel the amnesty, thereby removing the issue of the amnesty from the constitutional suit. Given that the sanction for treason committed by the Czechoslovakia President is the loss of office, and Klaus' term was due to end on 5 June 2002, the court's verdict was a mere formality, but a guilty verdict would make Klaus ineligible for a second term of office in 2007. Klaus described the move as an attempt by his political opponents to tarnish his presidency.
Post-presidency (Since 2002)[]
After his presidency ended in 2002, Klaus was named a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. Klaus has also occasionally given economics seminars at the University of Economics in Prague, focused on his free-market views.
Klaus's image as a eurosceptic and sceptic of the role of humans in climate change grew after his presidency. His activism has consisted of numerous articles and speeches, in which he described alleged gradual loss of sovereignty for member states in favour of the EU, as well as describing the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference as a "propagandistic" and "undignified" gathering and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as "a group of politicized scientists with one-sided opinions and one-sided assignments".
In 2007, Klaus published a book entitled Modrá, nikoli zelená planeta (literally: "Blue planet – not green"), which has been translated into various languages. The book claims that "the theory of global warming and the hypothesis on its causes, which has spread around massively nowadays, may be a bad theory, it may also be a valueless theory, but in any case it is a very dangerous theory".
On 28 September 2012, Klaus was attacked during a book signing in Prague. While Klaus was walking through a thick crowd, shaking hands and chatting with attendees, a 26-year-old man, Pavel Vondrouš, approached him and pressed an airsoft gun against the President's right arm, pulling the trigger seven times before disappearing into the crowd. Klaus was taken to Prague's Střešovice hospital with what was described as "minor bruising" for treatment before being discharged. The attacker, a supporter of the Communist Party, was detained after several minutes, but later released. Before he was taken into custody, he told journalists that he had done it "because politicians were blind and deaf to the people's despair". Vondrouš received a suspended sentence in June 2013. The lack of action from the President's bodyguards was heavily criticised, and the head of the President's security resigned after the incident.
Personal life[]
Václav Klaus is married to Livia Klausová, a Slovak economist and daughter of Štefan Miština from Orava. They have two sons, Václav (born 10 September 1969), also a Republican politician, and Jan (2 September 1974), an economist, and five grandchildren.
Honours[]
National honours[]
| Country | Honours | Medal Ribbon | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
 Czechoslovakia |
Order of the White Lion 1st Class (Civil Division) with Collar Chain |  |
5 June 1997 – 5 June 2002 (ex officio) |
| Czechoslovakia |
Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 1st Class |  |
5 June 1997 – 5 June 2002 (ex officio) |
| Czechoslovakia |
Order of the White Double Cross 1st Class |  |
5 June 1997 – 5 June 2002 (ex officio) |
Foreign honours[]
| Country | Honours | Medal Ribbon | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
 Austria |
Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria |  |
May 2001 |
| Template:Country data Germany Germany | Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany |  |
September 2000 |
 Poland |
Order of the White Eagle |  |
May 1999 |
See also[]
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