| Gregor Virant | |
|---|---|
| President of the National Assembly of Slovenia | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 21 December 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Ljubo Germič |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 December 1969 Ljubljana |
| Political party | Gregor Virant's Civic List |
| Alma mater | University of Ljubljana |
| Profession | Lawyer, public servant, politician |
Gregor Virant (born 4 December 1969) is a Slovenian politician and public servant, currently serving as the President of the Slovenian National Assembly.[1]
He is the leader of the Gregor Virant's Civic List, a classical liberal and centrist political party established in October 2011 to compete in the 2011 parliamentary election.
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Virant was born in Ljubljana. He studied law at the University of Ljubljana and at Glasgow Caledonian University. Between 1995 and 1999, he worked as a legal adviser to the Constitutional Court of Slovenia. In 2000, he was appointed secretary-general at the Ministry of Interior (led by Peter Jambrek) in the short lived centre-right government of Andrej Bajuk. He also remained in office during the centre-left governments of Janez Drnovšek and Anton Rop. During that period, he was one of the authors of the reform of public administration, which introduced the professionalization and de-politicization of public offices,[2] which was supported also by the main opposition party, the Slovenian Democratic Party.
Virant resigned from office shortly before the 2004 parliamentary elections, in which he ran as a candidate for the Slovenian National Assembly on the list of the Slovenian Democratic Party. However, he never joined the party.
After the electoral victory of the Slovenian Democratic Party in 2004, Virant became the head of the newly created Ministry of Public Administration in the government led by Janez Janša. He launched a thorough reform of the public service in Slovenia, which included modernization and economizing of the service. In the last years of Janša's government, Virant frequently ranked as the most popular minister and one of the most popular politicians in Slovenia.[3]
After the 2008 parliamentary elections, in which the Slovenian Democratic Party lost to the left-wing coalition headed by the Social Democrat leader Borut Pahor, Virant was replaced as minister by Irma Pavlinič Krebs of the Zares party.
In December 2008, Virant was elected chairman of the Rally for the Republic (Slovene: Zbor za republiko), a civic platform founded in 2004 to promote classical liberal, patriotic, republican, and liberal-conservative values in Slovenian public life. Between 2009 and 2011, he was also member of the Council of Experts of the Slovenian Democratic Party, the main opposition party's shadow government.
In October 2011, he announced he would run for parliament in the Slovenian parliamentary election of 2011 on an independent ticket.[4] According to an opinion poll released soon after the announcement, Virant was seen as the most appropriate choice for prime minister by the plurality of voters. [5] On October 21, 2011, the Gregor Virant's Civic List was officially chartered as a political party.[6]
On December 4th 2011, Virant was elected to the Slovenian National Assembly as the leader of the Gregor Virant's Civic List. On 21 December, with the votes of his list, the Slovenian Democratic Party, the Slovenian People's Party, New Slovenia and the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia, he became the President of the Assembly, thus defeating the candidate of Positive Slovenia party, Maša Kociper. He has succeeded Ljubo Germič.[7]
Virant is married and has two sons. He is the son-in-law of the politician Miha Brejc. His cousin, Mija Janković is married to Zoran Janković, president of the Positive Slovenia party.[8]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by office established |
Minister for Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia November 2004 – November 2008 |
Succeeded by Irma Pavlinič Krebs |
| Preceded by Ljubo Germič |
President of the National Assembly of Slovenia 2011 – present |
Succeeded by incumbent |