| Miroslav Kalousek | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Finance | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 13 July 2010 |
|
| Prime Minister | Petr Nečas |
| Preceded by | Eduard Janota |
| In office 9 January 2007 – 8 May 2009 |
|
| Prime Minister | Mirek Topolánek |
| Preceded by | Vlastimil Tlustý |
| Succeeded by | Eduard Janota |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1998 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 December 1960 Tábor, Czechoslovakia |
| Political party | TOP 09 |
| Other political affiliations |
KDU-ČSL |
| Spouse(s) | Radka Kalousková |
Miroslav Kalousek (b. December 17, 1960 in Tábor) is a Czech politician, who currently serves as the Finance Minister. He is also the First Deputy Chairman of the Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09, the party he founded.
Kalousek was previously a member and also chaired then-government party Christian Democrats.
Kalousek studied chemistry at a university in Prague. Since 1990 he worked in civil service. His most notable position held was at the Ministry of Defense where he was responsible for budget and acquisitions (1993 - 1998).
In 1998 and 2002 Kalousek was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. In 2003 he was elected as leader of KDU-ČSL. The party was in slow decline and Kalousek was seen as tough person not giving up seemingly lost case. In fact, the party declined further under his leadership.
Parliament election in 2006 resulted in situation where no party of coalition of parties was able to form a viable government. During next months several alternatives were negotiated with no result.
On August 24, 2006 Kalousek unexpectedly accepted an offer from Jiří Paroubek to start negotiation about minority government by KDU-ČSL and the Social Democratic Party which would be tolerated by the communists. The presidium of the party expressed no objections.[1]
Such negotiation was in conflict with the pre-election promises and vocal anti-communistic stance of the party and its electorate.[2][3]
On August 25, 2006 mass protests by KDU-ČSL members, regional organisations and parliamentaries went public. The party group in Brno (the biggest regional organisation) refused the negotiation and asked for resignation of Kalousek and of the whole presidium of KDU-ČSL. Other organisations expressed similar requirements. Some parliamentaries declared that they won't support such government.[2]
At the evening of the same day the country-wide committee of KDU-ČSL refused the negotiation by overwhelming majority and Kalousek resigned. According to Miroslav Kalousek, his negotiation with Jiří Paroubek was a part of a plan how to destroy the government coalition of ČSSD and ODS which seemed to be the most probable scenario. That finally really happened and ODS refused to participate on "big coalition" and created own government with minority support in the Parliament.
In 2009, after a supposed drift of KDU-ČSL to the political left, Kalousek left the party, and with several former KDU-ČSL colleagues created a new party called TOP 09. This party has celebrated a success in the parliamentary election and currently is one of the three parties governing in a right-wing "coalition of fiscal responsibility".
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