Milan Chovanec

Milan Chovanec
Minister of Interior
In office
29 January 2014 – 13 December 2017
Prime MinisterBohuslav Sobotka
Preceded byMartin Pecina
Succeeded byLubomír Metnar
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
Acting
In office
15 June 2017 – 18 February 2018
Preceded byBohuslav Sobotka
Succeeded byJan Hamáček
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
26 October 2013 – 14 April 2019
Personal details
Born (1970-01-31) 31 January 1970 (age 54)
Plzeň, Czechoslovakia
Political partyČSSD
Children2
Alma materUniversity of West Bohemia
Websitewww.milanchovanec.cz

Milan Chovanec (born 31 January 1970) is a Czech politician. He served as Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka from 2014 to 2017,[1] and served as acting leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party from June 2017 to February 2018. He was also a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic from 26 October 2013 until his resignation on 14 April 2019. Previously he served as governor of Plzeň Region between 2010 and 2014 and as a member of Plzeň City Council from 2002 until 2010.[2]

Early life

Chovanec obtained a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of West Bohemia.[3] Before entering politics, he worked at the National Bank of Czechoslovakia until 1989.[4]

Political career

On 26 October 2013, Chovanec attended a private meeting of ČSSD politicians attempting to exclude Bohuslav Sobotka from the party leadership election. Chovanec was the first to publicly admit the meeting, and retained his place in the party leadership,[5] despite offering his resignation to Sobotka.[6]

In January 2014, Chovanec was nominated as Minister of the Interior for ČSSD in the Cabinet of Bohuslav Sobotka.[7] President Zeman questioned Chovanec's competence to lead the department over alleged irregularities in his university qualifications, but Sobotka insisted on the nomination, arguing that Chovanec had already explained the matter sufficiently.[8]

On 26 January 2014, Chovanec resigned as governor of the Plzeň region and was replaced by Václav Šlajs.[9] The following month, on 17 February, Chovanec also resigned as an ordinary representative of the region.[10]

At the end of 2014, Chovanec ran successfully to become vice-chair of ČSSD,[11] defeating Jeroným Tejc [cs] in the second round of the election with 253 votes.[12]

In 2015, during the European migration crisis, Chovanec represented the Czech government in negotiations on refugee quotas,[13] refusing to accept mandatory quotas.[14]

Personal life

Chovanec is married to his wife Jaroslava with two children, but the couple live separately.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Milan Chovanec". Government of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  2. ^ "O mně" (in Czech). Milan Chovanec. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  3. ^ Marek, Martin (21 March 2013). "ČSSD má svého "Bendu" z plzeňských práv". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech).
  4. ^ "Ministr, který se postavil Babišovi. Projděte si profil Milana Chovance". Lidové noviny (in Czech). 15 June 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Hašek schůzku se Zemanem popírá, Chovanec potvrzuje". Lidové noviny (in Czech). 29 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Hašek chtěl schůzkou v Lánech ukázat prezidentovi, že má svůj tým, tvrdí Chovanec". Novinky.cz (in Czech). 3 November 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. ^ Kopecký, Josef (6 January 2014). "Koalice podepsala smlouvu. Politické výhrady od Zemana Sobotka nebere". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague=: Mafra. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  8. ^ Stuchlíková, Lucie (10 January 2014). "Sobotka na vládě trvá: Zemanovy námitky nejsou závážné". Aktualně.cz (in Czech). Prague: Economia. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  9. ^ Němcová, Barbora (27 January 2014). "Plzeňským hejtmanem se stal Šlajs, navzdory protestům i své minulosti". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra.
  10. ^ "Rezignace člena Zastupitelstva Plzeňského kraje". Yastupitelstva Plzeňského Kraje (in Czech). 10 March 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014.
  11. ^ Nachtmann, Filip (12 November 2014). "Krýt záda Sobotkovi. Šéf ČSSD si chce prosadit svůj tým". Echo24 (in Czech). Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Volební sjezd ČSSD". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). 13 March 2015.
  13. ^ Pehe, Jiří (23 September 2015). "Jiří Pehe: Uprchlická krize vytvořila z Chovance politického golema". Czech Radio (in Czech). Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  14. ^ "ČR opět odmítne uprchlické kvóty. Není čas na experimenty, říká Chovanec". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra. 15 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Chovanec dostal od manželky dar dva a půl milionu. Nechtěně tím prozradil odloučení". Lidové noviny (in Czech). 9 July 2018.
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Social Democratic Party
Acting

2017–2018
Succeeded by