Marián Čalfa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marián Čalfa (born on 7 May 1946 in Trebišov) was a Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia during and after the Velvet Revolution, and a key facilitator of smooth power transfer from the Communists to a new democratic representation.

An ethnic Slovak, he was a member of KSČ, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. From 1985, he worked as the head of a legislative department of the Czechoslovak federal government. In April 1988, he became a minister - the chairman of the legislative committee. During the Velvet Revolution, on December 10, 1989, he was appointed Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia in place of discredited Ladislav Adamec. As President Gustáv Husák resigned from his office on the same day, Čalfa also assumed the power of acting President until the election of Václav Havel on December 29.

He was the last Communist Prime Minister, on 18 January 1990 leaving the KSČ to join the Public Against Violence (VPN) party and, when it dissolved in April 1991, became a leading member of the Civic Democratic Union (ODU-VPN).

Both cabinets headed by Marián Čalfa succeeded in introducing key reform laws, facilitating the transition from Communism to a free capitalist society. He had a strong support of all relevant political powers, including both President Václav Havel and increasingly confident Finance Minister Václav Klaus.

Marián Čalfa resigned from the Federal Government after a defeat of Public Against Violence in elections of 1992. He was succeeded by caretaker Jan Stráský, whose major task was the execution of Dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Since then, Čalfa has been working as a lawyer in Prague, Czech Republic, heading law firm Čalfa, Bartošík a Partneři.

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Čalfa was, occasionally, a target of criticism for his Communist past. Some considered it as a proof, that the Velvet Revolution was unfinished or even "stolen" by members of the past nomenklatura. Presently, historians consider him as a Power behind the throne, who greatly contributed to the smoothness and speed of Velvet Revolution and election of Václav Havel as President. Even though he was a Communist, he used his negotiation skills in the critical moments against his comrades and talked them into compromises, which were more radical that even those the representatives of Civic Forum thought of.

Many politicians of the subsequent democratic era, including Václav Klaus and perhaps Václav Havel, said that they learned many things about real politics from Marián Čalfa.

[edit] See also

List of Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia

[edit] External links

Preceded by Ladislav Adamec	Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia 1989–1992	Succeeded by Jan Stráský
Preceded by Gustáv Husák	President of Czechoslovakia (acting) 1989	Succeeded by Václav Havel

Prime Ministers of Czechoslovakia
First Republic	Karel Kramář • Vlastimil Tusar • Jan Černý • Edvard Beneš • Antonín Švehla • Jan Černý • Antonín Švehla • František Udržal • Jan Malypetr • Milan Hodža • Jan Syrový
Second Republic	Jan Syrový • Rudolf Beran
Government in exile	Jan Šrámek • Zdeněk Fierlinger
Transition to Communism	Zdeněk Fierlinger • Klement Gottwald
Communist	Klement Gottwald • Antonín Zápotocký • Viliam Široký • Jozef Lenárt • Oldřich Černík • Lubomír Štrougal • Ladislav Adamec • Marián Čalfa
after the Velvet Revolution	Petr Pithart • Jan Stráský