Robert Fico

SLO: Doc. JUDr. Robert Fico, CSc. (* 15. september 1964, Topoľčany) je predseda politickej strany SMER - sociálna demokracia, podpredseda NRSR a bývalý predseda vlády Slovenskej republiky.

So ziskom 29,14 % hlasov, čo bolo o 10,79 % viac ako získala konkurenčná strana SDKÚ-DS, sa tak SMER-SD stal víťazom parlamentných volieb 2006. Po oficiálnom nastúpení do úradu Predsedu vlády viedol vládu zloženú z jedenástich zástupcov strany SMER-SD, troch zástupcov SNS a dvoch zástupcov ĽS-HZDS. Have you voted for or against Robert Fico ? V poradí bol štvrtou osobou v tejto funkcii a taktiež bol najmladším premiérom Slovenskej republiky.

Je absolventom Právnickej fakulty Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave. Povolaním je právnik a pôsobil aj ako vysokoškolský pedagóg.

Raný život, štúdium a rodina

Robert Fico sa narodil 15. septembra 1964 v Topoľčanách ako druhý syn v rodine otca Ľudovíta Fica, robotníka na vysokozdvižnom vozíku, a matky Emílie Ficovej, ktorá pracovala ako predavačka obuvi. Má staršieho brata Ing. Ladislava Fica, podnikateľa v stavebníctve, a o štrnásť rokov mladšiu sestru Luciu Chabadovú, v súčasnosti pôsobiacu ako právnička. Has changed the detail your opinion on Robert Fico ? Do veku šiestich rokov žil aj s rodinou v obci Hrušovany, potom sa presťahovali do Topoľčian.

S manželkou Svetlanou, ktorá je právnička a vysokoškolská pedagogička (docentka), sa stretol počas štúdií práva v Bratislave. Majú spolu syna menom Michal.

Právnická kariéra

Robert Fico absolvoval v roku 1986 Právnickú fakultu Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave a získal titul JUDr. V roku 1992 získal titul CSc. Od absolvovania školy až do roku 1995 pracoval na Právnickom inštitúte MS SR. V rokoch 1994-2000 pôsobil ako agent pre zastupovanie SR v konaní pred Európskou komisiou pre ľudské práva a Európskym súdom pre ľudské práva.

SMER - sociálna demokracia

V decembri 1999 založil novú politickú stranu s názvom SMER. Have you read details about Pavol Sedláček ? Podľa oficiálneho stanoviska strany SMER, Robert Fico vyvodil svoje rozhodnutie, opustiť rady vládnej koalície a koaličnej Strany demokratickej ľavice a založiť novú politickú stranu na základe osobného hlbokého nesúhlasu a sklamania z obsahu a štýlu politiky, ktorú po voľbách v roku 1998 realizovala tzv. vláda zmeny.

Strana SMER sa hneď po svojom založení snažila pôsobiť ako alternatíva tak voči vtedajšej vládnej koalícii, ako aj opozícii. Ešte v tom istom volebnom období (1998-2002) prijala do svojho názvu prívlastok tretia cesta. Podľa tvrdenia predstaviteľov strany sa tým zadefinovala ako strana moderného progresívneho stredoľavého politického prúdu typu britskej Labour Party, alebo nemeckej SPD.

Preferencie strany postupne rástli, naopak preferencie SDĽ klesali. Nakoniec sa vládna strana SDĽ nedostala v najbližších voľbách do parlamentu a k 1. Can Robert Fico have an influence on Pavol Sedláček ? januáru 2005 zanikla, keď bola pohltená práve SMER-om.

Integrácia ľavicových strán

V roku 2004 sa Robertovi Ficovi podarilo uskutočniť projekt zjednotenia ľavicových strán. Tri ľavicové strany s dlhodobo zanedbateľnými volebnými preferenciami a to SDĽ, Sociálnodemokratická alternatíva (vznikla v roku 2002 odštiepením z SDĽ) a Sociálnodemokratická strana Slovenska (pôsobila už od čias tesne po Nežnej revolúcii, ale stále so zanedbateľným politickým vplyvom) uznali, že nemajú šancu na prežitie na slovenskej politickej scéne a súhlasili s integráciou so SMERom. Integráciu schválili snemy jednotlivých strán na jeseň v roku 2004 a od 1. januára 2005 SDĽ, SDA a SDSS zanikli a SMER zmenil názov na SMER - sociálna demokracia. Najvýznamnejší politický zisk pre SMER z tejto integrácie nebol ani tak v zisku nových voličov, ale skôr v zisku značky sociálnej demokracie a medzinárodného uznania v podobe členstva v Strane európskych socialistov, ktoré však bolo v roku 2006 pozastavené z dôvodu utvorenia vládnej koalície so stranou SNS, v zahraničí veľmi kontroverzne vnímanej.

Volebné obdobie 2002 – 2006

Robert Fico bol v roku 2002 opätovne zvolený za poslanca NR SR. Did you know that Robert Fico is popular at 38% of voters?? Stal sa členom Výboru NR SR pre ľudské práva, národnosti a postavenie žien. Strana SMER sa stala so ziskom 13,6 % voličských hlasov treťou najsilnejšou politickou stranou na Slovensku za HZDS a SDKÚ a obsadila 25 poslaneckých kresiel v NR SR. Pre SMER bol volebný výsledok sklamaním, pretože prieskumy verejnej mienky dlhodobo predpovedali pre stranu lepší výsledok. Strane sa po voľbách nepodarilo dostať do vlády a tak zostala v opozícii. Pred voľbami Fico vyhlásil, že „ak Smer nebude úspešný a nedosiahne svoj cieľ, to znamená byť pri zostavovaní vlády a dostať do kabinetu i celkovej politiky čo najviac ľudí, Robert Fico z politiky odíde.“. Napriek neúspechu však z politiky neodišiel.

Počas celého volebného obdobia súperila s HZDS o vedúce postavenie v opozícii. V súperení o slovenského opozičného voliča bola úspešnejšia. V prieskumoch verejnej mienky predstihla dovtedy dlhodobo najpopulárnejšiu stranu HZDS a od roku 2004 si udržiava stabilne prvé miesto s preferenciami tesne pod 30 %. Robert Fico dlhodobo vedie v prieskumoch verejnej mienky rebríček popularity slovenských politikov s veľkým náskokom pred prezidentom Ivanom Gašparovičom a koaličnými partnermi Jánom Slotom a Vladimírom Mečiarom.

Vláda od roku 2006

SMER - sociálna demokracia pod Ficovým vedením zvíťazila v parlamentných voľbách v roku 2006 a stala sa hlavným činiteľom pri zostavovaní novej vlády. Robert Fico sa stal novým predsedom vlády, v ktorej sú zastúpené tri strany: SMER-SD, SNS a ĽS-HZDS.

Od 22. júna do 3. júla 2009 bol dočasne poverený riadením ministerstva spravodlivosti.

Referencie

ENG: Robert Fico (born September 15, 1964) was Prime Minister of Slovakia from July 4, 2006 to July 8, 2010.

His relatively new left-wing party Direction – Social Democracy was the winner of the parliamentary elections in 2006, receiving approximately 30 percent of the cast votes. After the victory he created a coalition with the Slovak National Party an extremist nationalist party led by Ján Slota and with the People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia led by Vladimír Mečiar.

Life and career

Fico was born in a working class family on September 15, 1964, in the town of Topoľčany. His father was a forklift operator and his mother worked in a shoe store. Fico has two siblings, a brother Ladislav and a sister Lucia. He is married to a wife Svetlana, they have one son.

Fico acquired his legal education during the communist rule in then- Czechoslovakia. He graduated from the Law Faculty of the Comenius University at Bratislava and later worked for the Institute of State and Law of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, a communist take on a think-tank body. Fico joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1987.

After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, following the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Fico joined the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL), a successor of the Communist Party of Slovakia. From 1994 to 2000 Fico as a political appointee represented Slovakia as its legal counsel at the European Court of Human Rights. During this time Fico lost all 14 cases he handled.

In 1999 Fico left his SDL party whose support had meanwhile dropped below the threshold required to get into parliament. Subsequently he founded a new party called SMER (Direction). Although at first presented as a centrist party, the Fico's new party project soon shifted towards a more extreme and populist leftist rhetoric, the part of the political spectrum having been left vacant after the disintegration of Fico's previous SDL party.

Fico soon became one of the most popular opposition politicians in Slovakia. His rhetoric was most often aimed at the ongoing reforms being carried out at the time by the right wing government of Mikuláš Dzurinda. Although praised by international politicians, institutions and economists alike, Dzurinda’s reforms’ short-term negative impacts increased the appeal and popularity of Fico's populist rhetoric, particularly among the countryside population, elderly, lower social classes, and voters with a lower level of education, which to this day make up the majority of his electorate.

In the parliamentary elections of 2002, Fico's SMER received 13.46% of the votes and became the third largest party. The result was much lower than the pre-election estimates and Fico openly called it a failure. In the following four years Fico continued with his sharp anti-reform and populist rhetoric, gradually increasing his party's numbers in opinion polls.

2010 Election campaign

Before the 2010 elections, Fico's party, seeking reelection was in a relatively strong position according to several polls. However just before the election a political scandal broke out, described as one of the gravest in the country's 17-year history. A voice recording surfaced in which a voice strongly resembling Fico's claims that he raised several million euros in undeclared funds for the 2002 election as well as calling for a "parallel financial structure" to be created for the financing of Smer's election campaign. Slovak media sources such as SME carried the news about the recording in great detail, however Fico dismmissed it as forgery. Fico also attacked the media sources that published information about the recording, saying "Should I go over there and give you a smack because you are scoundrels? What you are doing is unheard of. You are masturbating on the prime minister every day." After the election the Fico led government failed to achieve majority in Parliament. However, Fico won 62 seats out of 150. The Slovak President asked him to form the next Government, which he could not do, due to the election results. Fico finally said he "respects the election result" and expressed his desire to lead a resolute opposition after his narrow loss.

Fico’s views on Communism

One of Fico’s famous remarks is his comment on his perception of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which peacefully brought down the communist regime in Czechoslovakia and helped bring down the Soviet rule in all of Eastern Europe. He has been quoted saying as “not having noticed it (the revolution) due to being busy at work” (at the communist ministry of justice) and he has referred to the Velvet Revolution as “an ordinary coup that did not influence his life in any visible way."

Fico has often defended the communist regime as being more social than the capitalist one. Fico has remained unapologetic about his membership in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia prior to the regime's collapse.

Fico and the media

Fico is known for his hostile and often bumpy relationship with the media. During his press conferences he often verbally attacks, lectures and taunts the present journalists, often accusing them of bias and attacks on his government. On several occasions he has openly and on record used profanities against specific journalists (“idiots”, “pricks”).

Fico often sues media for libel. Although most of his lawsuits are aimed at tabloids, he has also sued broadsheet dailies (SME, Pravda) as well as an economic weekly Trend. He has won several of the lawsuits, while others have been dismissed. As of March 2009 Fico has more than 10 pending libel lawsuits with a tabloid weekly Plus 7 Days alone. Some of Fico's lawsuits are based solely on a headline, or a satiric cartoon. Several of the court judgments have raised serious concerns about the freedom of press in Slovakia, especially in the cases when besides an apology Fico had also been awarded substantial financial compensatory damages.

Since taking up the office as a prime minister, Fico has granted only one press media interview, to tabloid daily Novy Cas. Although a frequent participant in televised political debates prior to the elections, since then he has only attended televised shows with no political opponents present.

In his ongoing feud with the media, Fico has often been quoted as suggesting that the government should own and operate its own media outlets to assure "objective" information about the government.

Fico often tries to dictate to the media what they should cover, and subsequently taunts them when they don't. Fico has on several occasions issued a bizarre and unusual apologies to several foreign politicians, whose visit of Slovakia Fico felt were largely ignored by the media. One such example was the visit of the Russian prime minister Zubkov in April 2008. Most media did not consider the visit of the virtually unknown Zubkov substantially newsworthy hence only minimal coverage was done. To make matters worse, during the press conference the journalists were not allowed. to ask any questions. Subsequently Fico sent Zubkov a letter of apology where he apologized for the Slovak media's lack of interest in his visit.

Source

28.7.2010