Igor Matovič
Igor Matovič | |
---|---|
Prime Minister of Slovakia | |
In office 21 March 2020 – 1 April 2021 | |
President | Zuzana Čaputová |
Deputy | |
Preceded by | Slovakia |
Assumed office 28 October 2011 | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Personal details | |
Born | Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (since 2011) | 11 May 1973
Other political affiliations | Independent (2010–2011) |
Spouse |
Pavlína Matovičová (m. 1999) |
Children | 2 daughters |
Alma mater | Comenius University (Mgr.) |
Igor Matovič (born 11 May 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and
Born in
In the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, his party obtained a sufficient number of seats to form a coalition government with three other centrist and right-wing parties. The choices for Matovič's Cabinet were accepted by the then Slovak president Zuzana Čaputová and he was appointed Prime Minister on 21 March 2020. He resigned on 1 April 2021 to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Eduard Heger.
As of 2022, Matovič is the most distrusted Slovak political figure in the Slovak public, with a 91% distrust score.[2]
Early life and business career
Igor Matovič was born in Trnava on 11 May 1973. In 1993, he began to study at the Faculty of Management at Comenius University, graduating in 1998.[3] However, as Matovič admitted in 2021, he plagiarized his diploma thesis.[4]
He founded a business in 1997 and worked as the chief executive of a local media publishing house from 2002 to 2010. Matovič later signed over his assets to his wife, Pavlína (née Repaska).[citation needed] Agence France-Presse described him as an "eccentric self-made millionaire and former media boss" who had become "a media-savvy but unpredictable politician".[5]
Political career
In 2010, Matovič founded the
As leader of OĽaNO, Matovič attracted attention by campaigning against corruption. To oppose parliamentary immunity, he parked his car on a pedestrian crossing and showed his parliamentary pass to police who tried to tow it;[8] to oppose corruption, he took a polygraph test stating that he had never accepted bribes.[9] However, Robert Fico accused Matovič of impropriety in effecting a fictitious sale of the regionPRESS business for 122 million Slovak koruna to employee Pavel Vandák, who supposedly got the money from an internal account. Matovič denies this.[6]
Prime Minister of Slovakia
Matovič's party OĽaNO got the plurality of votes in the
Sociologist of the Bratislava Policy Institute, Michal Vašečka, stated that "Matovič has started to transform the anger of the society into a class war: city vs. countryside, educated vs. uneducated, common people vs. the elites." He suggested that it would result in political polarization.[15]
Plagiarism controversy
In July 2020, Matovič admitted to plagiarizing his masters' thesis after an investigation from Denník N found that entire pages and charts were lifted from the sources. He said he would step down after all his election promises were fulfilled.[16] Comenius University in Bratislava confirmed the plagiarism of the master's thesis.[17]
Government crisis and resignation
In March 2021, MP and chair of the parliamentary European affairs committee
As a result of the plagiarism scandal and government crisis, Matovič's approval rating tanked from 64% in April 2020[20] to 15% in April 2021.[21]
Minister of finance
Following the government crisis and his resignation as PM, Matovič was appointed Minister of Finance in the newly-formed
Personal life
Matovič is married to Pavlína Matovičová, with whom he has two daughters.[23]
References
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "Poll: Sulík's approval rating has fallen to a record low". Sme (in Slovak). Petit Press. 16 October 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-8030-6.
- ^ "Prime Minister publicly admits plagiarizing his diploma thesis". RTVS. 1 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Slovakia election: seismic shift as public anger ousts dominant Smer-SD party". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "Igor Matovič". Web noviny. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ Terenzani-Stanková, Michaela (10 February 2011). "Coalition loses another MP". The Slovak Spectator. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
- ^ "Matovič zaparkoval na priechode, mobilizoval pred referendom". Sme. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Cameron, Rob (4 March 2020). "Europe's Mr Ordinary prepares for power". BBC News. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "Slovakia: the end of Smer's rule, the triumph of Igor Matovič". OSW Centre for Eastern Studies. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ "Slovak election winner secures four-party coalition with cabinet deal". Reuters. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- TASR. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- TASR. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ Brokaw, Sommer. "Igor Matovic sworn in as Slovakia's prime minister". UPI. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^ Sirotnikova, Miroslava German (5 August 2020). "Jan Kuciak: A Murder That Changed Slovakia". Balkan Insight.
- ^ "Prime Minister Matovič is a plagiarist too". The Slovak Spectator. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ "Aj škola si prezrela Matovičovu diplomovku. Verdikt - doslovne odpísaná". Pravda (in Slovak). 27 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ "Another MP quits coalition after Sputnik landing". The Slovak Spectator. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ "Slovak president appoints Eduard Heger as prime minister". Reuters. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ "President Zuzana Caputova most trusted politician in Slovakia". Kafkadesk. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ "President Caputova most trusted politician in Slovakia, poll shows". Kafkadesk. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ "Who will stay and who will be replaced in the new government?". The Slovak Spectator. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "Video: gor Matovič hlasoval v Trnave s manželkou a deťmi". Teraz (in Slovak). 7 February 2015.
External links
- Quotations related to Igor Matovič at Wikiquote