Petr Pithart (born 2 January 1941) is a Czech politician, lawyer and political scientist who served as

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic The prime minister of the Czech Republic (Czech: ''Předseda vlády České republiky'') is the head of the government of the Czech Republic. The prime minister is the de-facto leader of the executive branch, chairs the Cabinet and selects its m ...

(then a federal region of Czechoslovakia) from 6 February 1990 to 2 July 1992. He was also the

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Chrudim from 1996 to 2012 and served as

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

from 8 January 1996 to 16 December 1998 and again from 19 December 2000 to 15 December 2004. On 1 January 2018 Pithart received the Order of the White Double Cross state award (second class) from

Slovak President The president of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Prezident Slovenskej republiky) is the head of state of Slovakia and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The president is directly elected by the people for five years, and can be elected for ...

Andrej Kiska.

Political career

Pithart was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1960, was active in the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

, and left the party after the Soviet invasion. He was later one of the most prominent dissidents against the communist regime, and was imprisoned for his activities, including being one of the first signatories of Charter 77. In 1989 he was one of the prominent leaders of the Civic Forum, founded at the start of the Velvet Revolution. Having participated in the negotiations leading to changes to the federal, Czech and Slovak governments, he was appointed Prime Minister of the Czech Socialist Republic. Pithart is often characterised as a philosopher and thinker, rather than a tactical or charismatic leader. His 1990-92 Czech government was unable to deal with the growing power of federal Finance Minister Václav Klaus and his increasingly popular Civic Democratic Party, nor growing Slovak nationalism, which culminated in the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia ( cs, Rozdělení Československa, sk, Rozdelenie Česko-Slovenska) took effect on December 31, 1992, and was the self-determined split of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries o ...

and defeat for Pithart's Civic Movement party. Pithart was unsuccessful in his bid to become

President of the Czech Republic 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 ...

at the

2003 election The following elections occurred in the year 2003. Africa * 2003 Beninese parliamentary election * 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election * 2003 Guinean presidential election * 2003 Mauritanian presidential election * 2003 Nigerian parliamentary ...

, losing to Václav Klaus. In 1998 Pithart joined the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party. He was elected as senator in 1996, and re-elected in 2000 and 2006. He was the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2012. He retired in 2012.

References

External links

* http://www.pithart.cz – Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Pithart, Petr 1941 births Living people Charter 77 signatories Czech prisoners and detainees Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees Politicians from Kladno Czech political scientists Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic Prisoners and detainees of Czechoslovakia Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians KDU-ČSL Senators People of the Velvet Revolution Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Candidates in the 2003 Czech presidential election KDU-ČSL presidential candidates Civic Forum politicians Civic Movement prime ministers Civic Movement MPs Charles University alumni Presidents of the Senate of the Czech Republic Recipients of the Order of the White Lion