Stanislav Gross

Infobox Prime Minister


name=Stanislav Gross
order=5^th
office=Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
term_start =4 August 2004
term_end =25 April 2005
predecessor =Vladimír Špidla
successor =Jiří Paroubek

office2=Chairman of Czech Social Democratic Party
term_start2 =26 June 2004
term_end2 =26 April 2005
predecessor2 =Vladimír Špidla
successor2 =Bohuslav Sobotka (acting)

birth_date =birth date and age|1969|10|30|df=y
birth_place =flagicon|Czechoslovakia Prague, Czechoslovakia
party=ČSSD
profession =Lawyer

Stanislav Gross (pronounced|ˈstaɲɪslaf ˈɡros) (born 30 October 1969 in Prague) was 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).

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. His thesis had a mere 33 pages. [Central catalogue of the Charles University in Prague [http://ckis.cuni.cz/F/CSU7AAALT1YSXKYE16QT86A6KYV1ALFPISFPDRKYJ5H4TJQILB-29909?func=item-global&doc_library=CKS01&doc_number=000564016&year=&volume=&sub_library=PF] ]

Minister of interior

On 5 April 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, skills in dealing with media and unwillingness to get involved in controversial decisions or discussions helped.

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 26 July. Gross was appointed prime minister on 4 August 2004 and his government was approved on 24 August.

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.

candal

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 25 April 2005. His popularity sunk to a record low, and trust in politicians among Czech people was shattered.

In September 2005 Gross stepped down from his remaining position of party leader. The reason was growing suspicion about massive corruption during the privatization of chemical conglomerate Unipetrol to the Polish PKN Orlen, involving Gross².

¹This person was later sentenced for insurance fraud to five years in prison. She claims it is the result of conspiracy [http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/index_view.php?id=141524] .
² Gross denies all accusations as an absurd conspiracy against him [http://zpravy.centrum.cz/domov/clanek.phtml?id=401011] .

Later life

After leaving the world of top level politics Gross started to work for the Law Office of Eduard Bruna. Between April 2006 and January 2007 he served as the chairman of Security Commission of the Social Democrats ("bezpečnostní komise"). The media had occasionally speculated about his influence on decisions made within the Czech police. [cite web|url=http://ihned.cz/3-18549110-gross+bezpe%E8nostn%ED-000000_d-a3|title=Gross and his cronies still influential within police|accessdate=2007-09-25|language=Czech|publisher=Hospodářské noviny|quote=A May 2006 article discusses Gross in context of corruption scandal around production of bio-oil in the Czech Republic]

In September 2007 an economics weekly Euro published information that Gross and his wife bought up to 31% stake in an energy company. The value of the stake was estimated to be about 300 million Czk. The journal calculated that the banks would provide at most two-thirds of the sum and the rest was thus paid by Gross. [cite web|url=http://www.euro.cz/id/qyi5nmlktm/detail.jsp?id=89922|title=Family of Gross got a stake in energy company|accessdate=2007-09-25|language=Czech|published=journal Euro] When this information was published Gross refused to provide details to the press, saying he's a private person and only the state authorities have the right to obtain more information. [cite web|url=http://www.novinky.cz/domaci/grossovi-investovali-300-milionu-korun_123339_ieljl.html|title=Gross invested 300 millions|accessdate=2007-09-25|language=Czech]

On 18 March 2008 he failed the bar exam. [Zuzana Kaiserová, Gross "rupnul" u advokátní zkoušky, Mladá fronta Dnes 19 March 2008, page A1 (front page), the reporter was present at the exam]

Notes

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4230163.stm Czech PM faces corruption claim] - BBC News, 2 February 2005
* [http://www.praguepost.com/P02/pp.php/index.php?query_string=gross&a=2&a=2 Coverage in "Prague Post"]