Libor Michálek (born 1968
) is a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
economist, politician, and
whistleblower
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
. He led successful corruption cases against the Czech National Property Fund and the Environment Ministry as former employees of both.
He was the first
Pirate Party
Pirate Party is a label adopted by Political party, political parties around the world. Pirate parties support Civil and political rights, civil rights, direct democracy (including e-democracy) or alternatively Participatory democracy, partici ...
candidate to be elected to office in a national legislature.
His senatorial term was 2012–2018.
Early life and career
Libor Michálek was born in
Náchod
Náchod (; german: Nachod) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It is known both as a tourist destination and centre of industry. The town centre with the castle complex is well preserved ...
in 1968.
He graduated from high school in
Přerov
Přerov (; german: Prerau) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 41,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Bečva River. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The historic centre ...
in 1987, and from
Palacký University of Olomouc in 1992.
He later studied in
Masaryk University
Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the seco ...
's management program,
and received his
MPA
MPA or mPa may refer to:
Academia
Academic degrees
* Master of Performing Arts
* Master of Professional Accountancy
* Master of Public Administration
* Master of Public Affairs
Schools
* Mesa Preparatory Academy
* Morgan Park Academy
* Mound ...
from
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as a new university in 1992, although its roots go back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design, w ...
's executive program in 2010.
After college, he worked as a
UNIX
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...
programmer, business school teacher, and portfolio manager at an investment company.
Michálek was a broker at the National Property Fund from 1994 to 1996,
when he was fired after exposing a
tunneling embezzlement scheme.
The resulting court case found that he was improperly dismissed.
He was later involved in compensating victims of financial crime.
Michálek served as a capital market supervisor at the
Czech Ministry of Finance from 1997 to 1998, a director at the Czech Securities Commission from 1998 to 2006, a director at the
Czech National Bank
The Czech National Bank, ( cs, Česká národní banka, ČNB) is the central bank and financial market supervisor in the Czech Republic, headquartered in Prague. It is and a member of the European System of Central Banks. It was established on ...
from 2006 to 2007, a senior consultant at the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
in 2007, and the chief financial market inspector at the Czech National Bank from 2008 to 2010.
In August 2010, he became the director of the Czech State Environmental Fund.
On 13 December 2010, Michálek filed a
criminal complaint
In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the Filing (legal), filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim aga ...
of corruption against the Environment Ministry in its
tender for reconstruction of a Prague water treatment plant.
He claimed the project was overpriced by .
Based on a secretly
audiotaped conversation, Michálek also alleged that Martin Knetig, an advisor to environmental minister Pavel Drobil, asked him to manipulate the tender to fund his party (the
Civic Democrats) and Drobil's political career.
Michálek recorded his subsequent conversation with Drobil, who allegedly offered his deputy position for the destruction of the tapes.
Upon the story's publication, Drobil fired Michálek and Knetig,
denied any wrongdoing,
and resigned a day later.
Prime Minister
Petr Nečas
Petr Nečas (; born 19 November 1964) is a Czech former politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party from 2010 to 2013, and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1993 to 2013 ...
defended Drobil, and called Michálek untrustworthy despite his public reputation as a whistleblower.
Since the Civic Democrats vowed to fight corruption, losing its first minister to corruption charges was a blow to the party's standing.
The Drobil incident was the first of several high-profile resignations.
On 21 December 2010,
Czech Police
The Police of the Czech Republic ( cs, Policie České republiky) is the national law enforcement agency of the Czech Republic. It was established on 15 July 1991 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The agency is tasked with pr ...
Chief Oldrich Martinu resigned after Interior Minister
Radek John
Radek John (; born 6 December 1954) is a Czech journalist, writer, screenwriter and politician who served as the Minister of Interior from 2010 to 2011 and as Leader of the Public Affairs party from 2009 to 2013. His novel '' Memento'' is the f ...
's month-long call for his ouster in part due to the Drobil case's mishandling.
Michálek returned to the State Environmental Fund as a financial analyst in 2011.
The Drobil case is on indefinite hiatus for a lack of evidence as of September 2012.
As of February 2013, the case against Knetig is on a similar hiatus for insufficient evidence.
Michálek is married and has three children.
He is a devout
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
Christian.
The Senate
At the end of July 2012, Libor Michálek accepted the Czech
Pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
,
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
, and
Christian Democrat Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
senatorial nominations for District 26.
The Pirate Party was his primary affiliation due to its transparency and accountability platforms.
His personal 12-point platform prioritized direct democracy, fair political party competition, and anti-corruption oversight efforts alongside
social welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet Basic needs, basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refe ...
reforms.
In the October 2012 elections, he won 24.3 percent of the first round vote and 74.4 percent of the
first-past-the-post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
runoff, giving him the seat.
Another candidate, Karel Berka, challenged the decision,
but the
Czech Supreme Administrative Court found the claims unfounded.
He was the first
Pirate Party
Pirate Party is a label adopted by Political party, political parties around the world. Pirate parties support Civil and political rights, civil rights, direct democracy (including e-democracy) or alternatively Participatory democracy, partici ...
candidate to be elected to national office, the 81-seat
Czech Senate
The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague.
Structure
The Senate has 81 members, chosen in s ...
.
His senatorial term was 2012–2018.
Czech President
The president of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic.
The president mostly has ceremonial powers as the day-to-day business of the executive governm ...
Miloš Zeman
Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czec ...
has publicly considered Michálek for leading the
Supreme Audit Office.
In 2013, Michálek authored the first bill designed to protect whistleblowers, which was overwhelmingly rejected on the floor of the Senate.
Awards
In March 2011, Michálek was awarded first prize from the
Endowment Fund Against Corruption for his
whistleblowing
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
role in the Environment Ministry corruption scandal.
In May 2011, he was awarded the
František Kriegel
František Kriegel (10 April 1908 — 3 December 1979) was a Czechoslovak politician, physician, and a member of the Communist Party reform wing of Prague Spring (1968). He was the only one of the political leaders who, during the Warsaw Pact inv ...
Prize by the
Charter 77 Foundation for his "brave, consistent and uncompromising fight against corruption in government."
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michalek, Libor
Living people
1968 births
20th-century Czech economists
Czech Christians
Czech Pirate Party Senators
Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic
Czech whistleblowers
People from Náchod
Masaryk University alumni
Palacký University Olomouc alumni
Alumni of Nottingham Trent University
21st-century Czech economists