Stanislav Gross
Image:Gross.jpg
5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
In office 4 August 2004 – 25 April 2005
Preceded by	Vladimír Špidla
Succeeded by	Jiří Paroubek
Chairman of Czech Social Democratic Party
In office 26 June 2004 – 26 April 2005
Preceded by	Vladimír Špidla
Succeeded by	Jiří Paroubek
Born	October 30, 1969 (1969-10-30) (age 37) Prague, Czechoslovakia
Political party	ČSSD
Profession	Lawyer

Stanislav Gross (IPA: [ˈstaɲɪslaf ˈɡros]) (born October 30, 1969 in Prague) is 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). This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (116th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vladimír Å pidla Vladimír Å pidla (IPA: ) (born April 21, 1951 in Prague) is a Czech social democratic politician. ... Jiří Paroubek Jiří Paroubek (IPA: ) (born 21 August 1952 in Olomouc) is a Czech politician from the Czech Social Democratic Party (ÄŒSSD) and the prime minister since April 25, 2005. ... The Czech Social Democratic Party (Czech: ÄŒeská strana sociálnÄ› demokratická or ÄŒSSD) is the Social Democrat political party in the Czech Republic. ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (117th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vladimír Å pidla Vladimír Å pidla (IPA: ) (born April 21, 1951 in Prague) is a Czech social democratic politician. ... Jiří Paroubek Jiří Paroubek (IPA: ) (born 21 August 1952 in Olomouc) is a Czech politician from the Czech Social Democratic Party (ÄŒSSD) and the prime minister since April 25, 2005. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 62 days remaining. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Czechoslovakia_(bordered). ... Nickname: Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... The Czech Social Democratic Party (Czech: ÄŒeská strana sociálnÄ› demokratická or ÄŒSSD) is the Social Democrat political party in the Czech Republic. ... English barrister 16th century painting of a civil law notary, by Flemish painter Quentin Massys. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 62 days remaining. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Nickname: Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... The Czech Social Democratic Party (Czech: ÄŒeská strana sociálnÄ› demokratická or ÄŒSSD) is the Social Democrat political party in the Czech Republic. ... This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic. ...

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. The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Non-violent protesters face armoured policemen The Velvet Revolution (Czech: , Slovak: ) (November 16 – December 29, 1989) refers to a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the communist government there. ...

Minister of interior

On April 5, 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. April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... MiloÅ¡ Zeman in Brussels to discuss entry into the EU MiloÅ¡ Zeman   (IPA: ) (born 28th September, 1944 in Kolín) is a well-known Czech politician. ... Vladimír Å pidla Vladimír Å pidla (born April 21, 1951 in Prague) is a Czech social democratic politician. ...

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, skill 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 July 26. Gross was appointed prime minister on August 4, 2004 and his government was approved on August 24. The first elections to the European Parliament after the EU accession were held in the Czech Republic on June 11 and June 12, 2004. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ...

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. For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency...

Scandal

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 April 25, 2005. His popularity sunk to a record low, and trust in politicians among Czech people was shattered. Only the fact that even such a powerful politician was, at the end, forced to step down was seen as a positive side of the whole scandal. April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (116th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In September 2005 Gross stepped down from his remaining position of party leader. The reason was growing suspicion about massive corruption during the privatisation of chemical conglomerate Unipetrol to the Polish PKN Orlen, involving Gross². A further political career is unlikely for him. // Establishment Orlen is Polands largest and most internationally recognized company. ...

¹This person was later sentenced for insurance fraud to five years in prison. She claims it is the result of conspiracy [1].
² Gross denies all accusations as an absurd conspiracy against him [2].

External links

• Official biography in Czech
• Czech PM faces corruption claim - BBC News, Feb 2, 2005
• Coverage in Prague Post

Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic

Czech Socialist Republic / Czech Republic (as part of Czechoslovakia): Stanislav Rázl (1969) • Josef Kempný (1969-1970) • Josef Korčák (1970-1987) • Ladislav Adamec (1987-1988) • František Pitra (1988-1990) • Petr Pithart (1990-1992) • Václav Klaus (1992) Czech Republic: Václav Klaus (1993-1997) • Josef Tošovský (1997-1998) • Miloš Zeman (1998-2002) • Vladimír Špidla (2002-2004) • Stanislav Gross (2004-2005) • Jiří Paroubek (2005-2006) • Mirek Topolánek (2006-present) Vladimír Å pidla Vladimír Å pidla (IPA: ) (born April 21, 1951 in Prague) is a Czech social democratic politician. ... This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, including the period when the republics territory was part of federative Czechoslovakia. ... Jiří Paroubek Jiří Paroubek (IPA: ) (born 21 August 1952 in Olomouc) is a Czech politician from the Czech Social Democratic Party (ÄŒSSD) and the prime minister since April 25, 2005. ... This is a list of Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, including the period when the republics territory was part of federative Czechoslovakia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... From 1969 to 1990, the Czech Socialist Republic (Česká socialistická republika in Czech; abbreviated ČSR) was the official name of that part of Czechoslovakia that is the Czech Republic today. ... Ladislav Adamec was a Czechoslovakian Communist political figure. ... FrantiÅ¡ek Pitra was the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (then part of Czechoslovakia) from October 11, 1988 through February 6, 1990. ... Petr Pithart (born January 2, 1941 in Kladno) is Czech politician. ... Václav Klaus (IPA: ) (born 19 June 1941) is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. ... Václav Klaus (IPA: ) (born 19 June 1941) is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. ... Josef ToÅ¡ovský (IPA: ) (born September 28, 1950 in Náchod, then Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic) was Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from December 17, 1997 to July 17, 1998. ... MiloÅ¡ Zeman in Brussels to discuss entry into the EU MiloÅ¡ Zeman   (IPA: ) (born 28th September, 1944 in Kolín) is a well-known Czech politician. ... Vladimír Å pidla Vladimír Å pidla (IPA: ) (born April 21, 1951 in Prague) is a Czech social democratic politician. ... Jiří Paroubek Jiří Paroubek (IPA: ) (born 21 August 1952 in Olomouc) is a Czech politician from the Czech Social Democratic Party (ÄŒSSD) and the prime minister since April 25, 2005. ... Mirek Topolánek (born May 15, 1956 in Vsetín, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic) is current prime minister of Czech Republic, from Civic Democratic Party. ...