Vladimír Ledecký

Vladimír Ledecký, M.Sc. (born 14 February 1966 in Levoča) is a Slovak politician, member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and former state secretary at the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic. He was a member of the presidency of the ZA ĽUDÍ party, where he acted as a guarantor for regional development. From 1998 to 2020 he was the mayor of Spišský Hrhov, from 2005 to 2022 he also served as a deputy of the Prešov self-governing region. He is currently a member of the SaS parliamentary club.

Early lfe and career

Ledecký was born in 1966 in Levoča and comes from Spišský Hrhov, currently works in Bratislava. He was the mayor of Spišský Hrhov for 21 years. He studied social work at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra. He was also a deputy of the Prešov self-governing region for 17 years. He has written four books and is also a co-author of ten publications on social entrepreneurship in disadvantaged groups.

Politics

Communal and regional politics

Ledecky's activity in municipal politics is connected primarily with the municipality of Spišský Hrhov in the Levoča district. He became the mayor of the village in 1998 and held the mandate in six consecutive election periods.

In the municipal elections in 1998, he ran as the only candidate with the support of the parties KDH, SOP and SDĽ. In 2002, he was elected again as the only candidate, this time with the support of the coalition of parties KDH, SDKÚ, SDĽ and ANO. In 2006, he again ran unopposed and won 401 votes, with the support of the ĽS-HZDS, SDKÚ-DS and SMER-SD parties.

In 2010, he had an opponent for the first time in the mayoral elections, but as an independent candidate he convincingly won with 428 votes (79.9%). In the 2014 elections, he won again without an opponent, when he received 450 votes as a nominee of the KDH, SDKÚ-DS and SMER-SD parties.

Ledecký's last electoral victory in Spišský Hrhov occurred in 2018, when he ran as an independent and the only candidate in the elections and received 490 votes. In connection with his candidacy in the parliamentary elections in 2020, Ledecký announced in January 2020 that he would give up the mandate of mayor of Spišský Hrhov. In case of failure after the elections, he planned to establish a social enterprise. He was replaced as mayor by deputy Zuzana Kučerová.

Ledecký became known in Slovakia and abroad mainly thanks to his exemplary work with the Roma community. Mayor Ledecký's work in Spišský Hrhov was also written about on the front page of The New York Times. American newspapers wrote that the village is an example of prosperity thanks to the integration of the Roma, and highlighted in particular the availability of running water and electricity, in contrast to other eastern Slovakian villages. During his 21 years in office, he managed to make all municipal buildings and schools functional and at the same time start several successful projects. Under his leadership, the village received many awards, such as the Mayor of the Year, Village of the Year or EU Prize for Roma inclusion and many others.

In addition to the position of mayor, Ledecký was also a member of the Prešov self-governing region council for four electoral terms from 2005 to 2022. In 2005, he was elected as a nominee of the parties SMER-SD, HZD and ANO, when he received 1,376 votes in the Levoča district. In 2009, he was re-elected for the Levoča district with 1,620 votes as a nominee of the parties SMER-SD and ĽS-HZDS. In 2013, he was elected as a deputy for the Levoča district for the SMER-SD party. He received 2,034 votes. He was again re-elected in 2017, this time as an independent candidate, receiving 2,489 votes. In the 2022 elections, he ran as a nominee of the parties KDH, Sme rodina, SaS, ZA ĽUDÍ. He received 2,103 votes and was not re-elected after 17 years.

State secretary and member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic

In 2019, Ledecký was one of the founding members of the emerging party of former president Andrej Kiska, ZA ĽUDÍ. At its constituent assembly (September 28, 2019 in Košice) he was elected vice-chairman of the party. In the parliamentary elections in 2020, he ran from the 5th place of the ZA ĽUDÍ candidate and got into the parliament as a deputy of this party. He received 24,422 preferential votes in the election and finished 5th in the party after preferential voting. From July 2020, he was the state secretary for regional development at the newly established Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic. At the beginning of April 2021, Ledecký resigned from the post of state secretary at his own request, because "''he did not find support for his intentions in the leadership of the ministry''" and bought back his mandate as a member of the National Council.

In September 2021, he was a member of a group of deputies who resigned from the ZA ĽUDÍ party and created a platform for a fair Slovakia in the SaS parliamentary club. However, he did not become a member of the SaS party.

In the elections to the National Council in 2023, he ran from the 16th place on the candidate list of the Freedom and Solidarity party. He received 16,300 preferential votes and finished in 9th place after preferential voting was taken into account.

Membership in the committees of the National Council of the Slovak Republic

Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Social Affairs, chairman (2021 - 2023), member (since 2023)

Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Public Administration and Regional Development, Vice chairman (2021 - 2023), member (since 2023)

Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Education, Science, Youth and Sport, member (2021 - 2023)

Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Human Rights and National Minorities, member (2021 - 2023)

Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Control of Military Intelligence Activities (2021 - 2023)

Personal life

Ledecký is the father of Vladimíra Marcinková, member of the Slovak National Council, and the father-in-law of hockey player Tomáš Marcinko. His brother Miroslav Ledecký has been the mayor of the village of Drahovce in the district of Piešťany since 2018.

Books

* LEDECKÝ, Vladimír. ''S dušou tuláka''. 1. vyd. Banská Bystrica : Beryl, 2006. 104 p.
* LEDECKÝ, Vladimír. ''S dušou tuláka 2''. 1. vyd. Levoča : Polypress, 2007. 101 p.  
* LEDECKÝ, Vladimír. ''Počúvajte, páni z Bratislavy! : Vladimír Ledecký a jeho zázračný svet hrhovského starostu''. 1. vyd. Bratislava : W Press, 2019. 201 p.  
* LEDECKÝ, ''Vladimír. Horší, ako sa zdá.'' 1. vyd. Levoča : Polypress, 2023. 96 s.

Documentary

Time-lapse documentary ''To ta monarchia'' by director Vladislava Sárkány about the activities of Vladimír Ledecky in Spišský Hrhov had its online premiere in Slovakia at the One World festival in 2020. The director speaks of the documentary as a probe into the story of the village, which reached its peak thanks to a strong community of interesting people at the head with the mayor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledecký, Vladimír

For the People (Slovakia) politicians
Living people
1966 births
People from Levoča District
Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023
Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2023–2027