interview The interior minister and member of parliament of the Czech Republic, Milan Chovanec, has been in politics since 1997. He worked mainly at a regional level in the Pilsen region for fifteen years and was head of this area for four years. He became vice-chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party last October and later a parliamentarian too. He is heading the Ministry of the Interior since January.
Photo: Archive
situation I started to study other issues of the department more deeply. I have already said, I was surprised by the Czech post issues. But hopefully this is slowly going to be better.” Your grandfather was a politician too. Do you use his experiences? And would you approve your children to pursue you in politics? “I hold my grandfather in high esteem, his experiences and advice which I obtained in my youth, I use a lot. It is not just that he was a politician. I loved to listen his stories from Second World war in my childhood. He
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actively participated as a resistance fighter. Harsh interrogations, prison, concentration camp formed his attitudes. And thank him, I respect what our ancestors had done for our freedom. Now it is our turn to keep and protect the freedom for our children and grandchildren. However, what my children decide about their future, I will obviously support.”
“Practically all my working in local and regional politics I consider a very good grounding for national policy. I can not see any side effects which could bring any disadvantages. Truly I have to say, as a citizen of Pilsen, I feel nostalgic sometimes for local government. Anyway I am not sure there is time to have those thoughts with this workload. “
Which advantages and disadvantages have your experiences from self-government for leading such a large office? And won‘t you miss local government?
Jaroslav Kramer ■ české znění naleznete na našich stránkách www.leadersmagazine.cz
Leaders Magazine IV/2014 37