Iveta Radičová facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Iveta Radičová
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Radičová in 2010
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| Prime Minister of Slovakia | |
| In office 8 July 2010 – 4 April 2012 |
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| President | Ivan Gašparovič |
| Preceded by | Robert Fico |
| Succeeded by | Robert Fico |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 28 November 2011 – 4 April 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Ľubomír Galko |
| Succeeded by | Martin Glváč |
| Minister of Labour | |
| In office 17 October 2005 – 4 July 2006 |
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| Prime Minister | Mikuláš Dzurinda |
| Preceded by | Ľudovít Kaník |
| Succeeded by | Viera Tomanová |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Iveta Karafiátová
7 December 1956 Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) |
| Political party | Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party (2006–2012) |
| Spouses | Stano Radič (Deceased 2005) Marián Balázs |
| Alma mater | Comenius University Slovak Academy of Sciences |
| Signature |  |
Iveta Radičová (born 7 December 1956) is a Slovak sociologist and former politician. She served as the prime minister of Slovakia from 2010 to 2012. She was the first woman to hold this important position.
As prime minister, Iveta Radičová led a group of political parties called a coalition government. She was a member of the SDKÚ-DS party. During her time in office, she worked to manage the country's economy after a big economic slowdown called the Great Recession. She also supported cutting government spending to reduce the country's debt.
Born in Czechoslovakia when it was a communist country, Radičová first became a sociologist. She focused on how to study things (called methodology) so she didn't have to get involved in political projects. She was one of the few women who played a big part in the Velvet Revolution in 1989. This was a peaceful revolution that ended communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
After her time as prime minister, Iveta Radičová went back to working in universities.
Contents
Early life and education
Growing up in Bratislava
Iveta Karafiátová was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, on 7 December 1956. She grew up in a time when her country was under communist rule. She has said that her family faced poverty during this time.
From 1975 to 1979, Iveta attended Comenius University. There, she studied sociology, which is the study of how people live in groups and societies. She later earned her PhD in sociology from the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
Academic work and early activism
In 1979, Radičová started working at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. She studied how communist countries could create policies to help families. Unlike many other academics, she did not join the Communist Party. She was also open about her beliefs against communism.
In 1989, Iveta Radičová became involved in the Public Against Violence movement. This group was important during the Velvet Revolution, which led to the end of communism. She was one of the few women who spoke out for the movement.
After the revolution, Radičová taught sociology and political science at Comenius University. She also started the Center for Social Policy Analysis in 1992. She was its director until 2005. She focused on studying gender issues and supported liberal democracy.
In 2005, she became a full professor, the first woman in Slovakia to be a sociology professor. Sadly, her husband passed away that same year.
Political career
Becoming a minister and entering parliament
In 2005, Mikuláš Dzurinda, who was the prime minister, chose Iveta Radičová to be the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family. She was chosen because she knew a lot about these topics.
The next year, she ran in the 2006 Slovak parliamentary election and was elected to the National Council, which is like the country's parliament. She joined the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (SDKÚ-DS) and became its deputy leader. In parliament, she worked on issues related to families and welfare.
Running for president
In 2009, Iveta Radičová ran for president in the 2009 Slovak presidential election. She was the main candidate for the opposition parties. She tried to be calm and polite during her campaign.
Some people criticized her for not being aggressive enough. Others worried she was too close to the Hungarian minority in Slovakia. In the election, she came in second place. She then went to a second round of voting against the current president, Ivan Gašparovič. She lost the election, getting 44.5% of the votes.
Leaving and returning to parliament
After the presidential election, Radičová faced a political issue. In April 2010, she voted for another politician who was not present. This was against the rules, so she resigned from her seat in parliament.
However, she remained a strong leader in her party, SDKÚ-DS. She was chosen to lead her party's list of candidates for the 2010 Slovak parliamentary election. Even though her party didn't win the most votes, they were able to form a group of parties (a coalition). This made Iveta Radičová the new Prime Minister of Slovakia.
Prime Minister of Slovakia
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As prime minister, Iveta Radičová led a coalition government. This group included her own SDKÚ-DS party, the Christian Democratic Movement, Freedom and Solidarity, and a new pro-Hungarian party called Most–Híd.
Her time as prime minister was difficult. The parties in her coalition didn't always agree on important issues. She also had to replace some of her appointed ministers because of corruption problems. In November 2011, she even took on a second role as the acting minister of defence.
In 2011, her government fell apart. This happened during a vote on the European Financial Stability Facility, which was a fund to help European countries. Radičová said that if her government didn't get support for this, it would be a motion of no confidence. But one of the parties in her coalition voted against it, and her government ended.
Key policies
The economy was a big challenge for Radičová. She became prime minister after the Great Recession. Slovakia faced a large government debt, high unemployment, and low average income. During her time, unemployment in Slovakia decreased.
Radičová promised to cut government spending to reduce the country's debt. She said her government was ready to take responsibility during a tough economic time. She also worked to make relations better with Hungary.
She also tried to reduce corruption in the government. She made it a rule that all government contracts had to be available online for everyone to see. However, her government still faced some corruption scandals. One big one was the Gorilla scandal, which involved secret meetings between politicians and businesses. This made people lose trust in the government.
Because her time as prime minister was short, she couldn't achieve all her goals. The economic crisis also made it harder to govern.
After being prime minister
After leaving office, Iveta Radičová went back to Comenius University to teach. She also left her political party, SDKÚ-DS.
In 2013, she wrote a book called Krajina hrubých čiar (Country of Full Stops). It was about her experiences as prime minister. In a 2014 poll, many people named Radičová as one of the best recent politicians in Slovakia.
In 2017, she received an award from Women Political Leaders. A 2018 poll showed that she was a popular choice for President of Slovakia.
See also
In Spanish: Iveta Radičová para niños
