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Vít Rakušan

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Vít Rakušan
Rakušan in 2023
First Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 December 2021
Prime MinisterPetr Fiala
Preceded byJan Hamáček
Minister of the Interior
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 December 2021
Prime MinisterPetr Fiala
Preceded byJan Hamáček
Leader of Mayors and Independents
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 April 2019
Preceded byPetr Gazdík
1st Vice-Chairman of Mayors and Independents
In office
16 April 2016 – 13 April 2019
Preceded byPetr Gazdík
Succeeded byJan Farský
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 October 2017
Personal details
Born (1978-06-16) 16 June 1978 (age 46)
Kolín, Czechoslovakia
(now the Czech Republic)
Political partyMayors and Independents
SpouseMarie Rakušanová
Children3
Alma materUniversity of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Charles University
Websitewww.vitrakusan.cz

Vít Rakušan (born 16 June 1978) is a Czech pedagogue and politician who has served as the leader of the Mayors and Independents (STAN) political party since 2019 and its 1st vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019. He has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since October 2017; an elected representative of the Central Bohemia Region since 2012, and was the mayor of the City of Kolín from 2010 to 2019. In 2021, he assumed the posts of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in the cabinet of Petr Fiala.

Early life and education

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Rakušan ran his own business between 2000 and 2015 in the area of German language teaching. He teaches German language at Jiří Orten Grammar School (Czech: Gymnázium Jiřího Ortena) in Kutná Hora.[1]

Political career

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Early political career

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Rakušan has been a member of the STAN political party. He also holds the position of a member of the National Committee and a Vice-Chairman of the Regional Committee of the Central Bohemian Region in the party. At the 8th National Convention of STAN in Průhonice u Prahy in mid April 2016, he was elected the first vice-chairman of the party. He won 137 votes from 144 delegates (i.e. 95%).[2]

2010s elections

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In the 2010 Czech municipal elections, Rakušan was a non-partisan candidate of the entity Změna pro Kolín (lit. 'Change for Kolín' to be elected as a representative of the City of Kolín, later being mayor of the city.[3]

In the 2012 Czech regional elections, Rakušan was elected as a non-partisan member of STAN as part of the entity "TOP 09" a "Starostové pro Středočeský kraj" to the Regional Council of the Central Bohemia Region. He was originally listed at 11th place on the list of candidates but came in second due to preferential votes).[4]

In 2014 municipal elections, Rakušan successfully defended his position as an elected representative of the city, when he once again led the list of candidates as a non-partisan candidate of Změna pro Kolín, which won with 63.95% votes. In November 2014, he was elected mayor of the city for the second time.[5]

In 2016, Rakušan was ranked among the top 100 innovators of Central and Eastern Europe announced by the prestigious English international daily newspaper Financial Times.[6] During elections of the same year, he was the leader of STAN in the Central Bohemia Region and defended his mandate of an elected regional representative.[7] On 18 November, Rakušan was elected statutory representative and deputy mayor for safety and tourism, but was removed from office in October 2017 after the breakup of coalition.[8]

At the 9th National Convention of STAN in Prague on 25 March 2017, Rakušan was the only candidate to defend the position of the 1st vice-chairman of the party, having obtained votes from 133 of 145 delegates (i.e., 92%).[9] In the parliamentary election the same year, he was the leader of the STAN party in the Central Bohemia Region, being elected deputy with 7,334 preferential votes.[10]

Rakušan was the national leader of STAN during the 2018 Czech municipal elections. He defended the record setting results in 2014 with political group Změna pro Kolín in Kolín, winning 62.82% of the votes cast and obtaining even 21 of 27 mandates.[11]

At the 10th National Convention of STAN on 13 April 2019, he was elected as the only candidate for the chairman of the party. He was elected right in the first round by 93% of the votes. He thus replaced Petr Gazdík in the function of chairman, who had decided not to defend the position.[12]

2020s elections

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Rakušan stood as a STAN candidate in the Central Bohemia Region during the 2020 Czech regional elections. The party won and he defended the position of an elected representative once again. In the total sum of preferential votes, Rakušan received the second highest number from voters: 12,243 votes.[13] He received more than 60,000 first-preference votes, more than any other candidate in the 2021 Czech legislative election.[14]

Views and attitudes

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Rakušan stated that the Czech Republic should support Israel but he also criticized the planned Israeli annexation of the Jewish settlements, that Israel has developed on the occupied Jordanian West Bank since 1967, which is territory that the Palestinians count on for their future state of Palestine.[15]

In relation to the removal of the statue of the Russian marshal Ivan Konev in Prague 6 in 2020, Rakušan objected the criticism expressed by the chairman of KSCM Vojtěch Filip in one of the Russian daily papers. It was the removal of the statue that Filip criticized in the daily. According to Rakušan, Filip crossed the line. He also drew attention to the increasing power of Russian propaganda.[16]

In recent years,[when?] Rakušan sees a similar problem in the obvious pressure and influence of China, which are also often mentioned in connection with the death of the then President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera. According to him, China makes use of the Czech Republic not only as a tool of propaganda, but also from the point of view of industrial espionage.[17] Attention to the influence of China and Russia is regularly drawn in the reports of BIS.[18]

Rakušan is a supporter of the idea of a simple, modern state, which should primarily serve its citizens, not hinder them. As part of his role as an elected representative, he tries to help citizens to improve and simplify life within the project Absurdity.[19] In the long term, he also subscribes to the ideas and legacy of former president Václav Havel.[20]

Personal life

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Rakušan has been married twice, with Marie Auerová being as his wife since 2015. They have two sons named Matěj and Jonáš, born in 2017 and 2020 respectively.[21] His father is the former senator elected as a member of ČSSD Jan Rakušan.[22]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vít Rakušan.
  1. ^ "Vít Rakušan". Naši Politici (in Czech). 6 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Gazdík vede STAN. Kritizoval, že se mladí neberou a žijí "na hromádce"". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 2010" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Jmenné seznamy | volby.cz" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí 2014" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  6. ^ Foy, Henry (15 November 2016). "New Europe 100 | changemakers in central and eastern Europe". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev krajů konané dne 2016" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  8. ^ Chalupa, Martin (24 October 2017). "Nová koalice ve Středočeském kraji: Starostové zlobili, k moci se dostanou i komunisté". ČtiDoma.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Gazdík je staronovým šéfem STAN, dostal přes 93 procent hlasů". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. 25 March 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Volby do Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu České republiky konané ve dnech 2017" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Jmenné seznamy | volby.cz" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Rakušana zvolili předsedou STAN a dali mu stan". Novinky.cz (in Czech). 13 April 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  13. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev krajů konané dne" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  14. ^ "Volby 2021 | Vít Rakušan ovládl preferenční hlasy. Bodovala i Pekarová Adamová". E15.cz (in Czech). 9 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Kritický článek tří ministrů zahraničí o Izraeli vyvolal v Česku politickou přestřelku". Novinky.cz (in Czech). 25 May 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  16. ^ "STAN chce odvolat Filipa z vedení PS a distanc od jeho výroků". České noviny (in Czech). Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Vít Rakušan | Proč je důležité nemíti Filipa". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 5 June 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  18. ^ "Českou veřejnou správu se nejvíc snaží ovlivnit Rusko a Čína, říká šéf BIS Koudelka". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 25 September 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Absurdity". Vít Rakušan's official website (in Czech). Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  20. ^ "Vít Rakušan k narozeninám Václava Havla" (in Czech). Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Foto: Gratulujeme! Starosta Kolína Vít Rakušan se oženil | Regionální zpravodajství". svoboda.info (in Czech). Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Jaroslav Bican: Kolín: pohádkový příběh starosty kontrastuje s úpadkem místní ČSSD". Deník Referendum (in Czech). 3 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
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