Wikipedia

Alena Schillerová

Alena Schillerová (née Dupalová, born 18 March 1964)[2] is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as Minister of Finance in the government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš from 2017 to 2021. Schillerová is the first woman in the history of the Czech Republic to hold the office.[3]

Alena Schillerová
MP
Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
In office
30 April 2019 – 17 December 2021
Prime MinisterAndrej Babiš
Preceded byRichard Brabec
Minister of Finance
In office
13 December 2017 – 17 December 2021
Prime MinisterAndrej Babiš
Preceded byIvan Pilný
Succeeded byZbyněk Stanjura
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 October 2021
Personal details
Born
Alena Dupalová[1]

(1964-03-18) 18 March 1964 (age 60)
Brno, Czechoslovakia
(now Czech Republic)
Political partyIndependent (nominated by ANO 2011) (2017–2021)
ANO 2011 (2021–present)
SpouseJaroslav Schiller
Children2
Alma materMasaryk University
Signature

Early life and education

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A graduate of Masaryk University, Schillerová was awarded a JUDr. degree in law and received a PhD. in administrative and agricultural cooperative law, respectively in 1988 and 2000.[3]

Political career

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2010s

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On 1 January 2016, Schillerová was appointed expert deputy Minister of Finance, replacing Simona Hornochová.[4] By the end of 2017, she showed her priority in the position of deputy was also the preparation of a completely new law on income tax.[5]

In May 2017, Andrej Babiš requested that Schillerová should replace him as Minister of Finance.[6] At the time, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka rejected her nomination, saying she was too close to Babiš.[7] Instead, Ivan Pilný was nominated.[8]

At the end of June 2018, Babiš requested Schillerová again for the post of Minister of Finance of the Czech Republic in his second cabinet.[9] She was appointed by Zeman again on 27 June 2018[10] and became vice-president on 30 April 2019.[11]

During her tenure, the government introduced a 7% digital tax in 2019 aimed at boosting state revenue by taxing advertising by global internet giants like Google and Facebook, based on earlier ideas for pan-European legislation.[12]

2020s

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During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic, Schillerová was one of the key people determining the economic strategy, helping the self-employed affected by the effects of the pandemic.[13] According to Neolivní, she lives with an income of CZK 173,000 per month in a luxury apartment of 100 m 2 in Salvátorská Street in Prague 1, while the state pays for her living expenses.[14]

In the 2021 Czech parliamentary election, Schillerová was a non-party leader of the ANO 2011 movement in the South Moravian Region,[15] elected as an MP with 22,968.[16] She became the new chairperson of the ANO 2011 Parliamentary Club on 12 October, replacing Jaroslav Faltýnek [cs].[17] Schillerová joined the ANO 2011 movement on 19 October 2021,[18] later becoming its vice-president at the movement's assembly in February 2022.[19]

In the 2022 Czech municipal elections, Schillerová did not run for the Brno City Council from the 30th place as a candidate of the ANO 2011.[20] She also ran for the Brno-Komín Municipal Council from the last 17th place of the ANO 2011 candidate list, but did not get the mandate of the representative of the city district.[21]

In February 2023, Babiš and Karel Havlíček named Schillerová the new main face of the movement.[22] At the party assembly in February 2024, she defended the position of rank-and-file vice president.[23]

Personal life

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Schillerová is married to Jaroslav Schiller; they have two children named Petra and Jaroslav.[24] Her daughter, Petra Rusňaková, is married to David Rusňák [cs], who was investigated in the case of false information from police database.[25] Schillerová has three grandchildren (Jaroslav's children Jaroslav and Laura; Petra's son František).[26]

Controversy

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The Czech government's official website states that she speaks English, German and Russian.[3] However, her proficiency in English came under scrutiny in 2020 after a series of reports by Czech news outlets questioning it.[27] Further concerns were raised by the minister's refusal to conduct interviews in English and her reported lack of participation in EU meetings conducted in the language.[27]

At the end of January 2022, Seznam Zprávy reported that the Ministry of Finance had spent almost 2 million CZK on salaries and rewards for the photographer and cameraman, employees of the press department, who took Schillerová's photos and filmed her from her social media profiles.[28] However, the Czech Republic should demand Schillerová's money back, as there might be use of public assets for personal use.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Šindelář, Rudolf (3 September 2021). "Alena Schillerová se představila: Obyčejná ženská z Brna, hrdá matka. 7 let v Praze a srdce na jižní Moravě. Promluvil politolog". Život v Česku (in Czech). Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  2. ^ "JUDr. Alena Schillerová, Ph.D." MFCR (in Czech). 1 January 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Alena Schillerová". Government of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Náměstkyni ministra financí Hornochovou nahradí Schillerová z Finanční správy". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 23 December 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  5. ^ Vlková, Jitka (26 August 2017). "Jednodušší daňové přiznání? Snad za tři roky, říká náměstkyně Schillerová". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  6. ^ Lopatka, Jan; Müller, Robert (12 May 2017). "Czech finance minister proposes deputy replace him as solution to crisis". Reuters.
  7. ^ Müller, Robert (14 May 2017). "Czech PM rejects finance minister nominee in coalition crisis". Reuters.
  8. ^ Müller, Robert (17 May 2017). "Czech PM accepts new finance minister to end government dispute". Reuters.
  9. ^ Kopecký, Josef (22 June 2018). "Babiš zveřejnil návrh složení nové vlády. Budou v ní Malá i Nováková". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra.
  10. ^ Kopecký, Josef (22 June 2018). "Prezident jmenoval vládu bez Pocheho. Půjde ji osobně podpořit před poslance". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra.
  11. ^ Kopecký, Josef (30 April 2019). "Zeman jmenoval ministry. Už to tady jednou bylo, Maruško, řekl Benešové". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra.
  12. ^ Hovet, Jason (18 November 2019). "Czech government approves digital tax aimed at internet giants". Reuters.
  13. ^ "Nárok i bez poklesu příjmů. Schillerová oznámila změny ohledně příspěvku živnostníkům". Czech Radio (in Czech). 3 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  14. ^ Slonková, Sabina (6 May 2020). "Schillerová bydlí v luxusu Pařížské ulice. Platí stát". Neovlivní (in Czech). Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Jihomoravské ANO pošpiněné Stokou povede do voleb ministryně Schillerová. V Praze se odehraje souboj žen". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 1 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  16. ^ "Volby do Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu České republiky konané ve dnech 8.10 – 9.10.2021". Czech Statistical Office (in Czech). Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Koalice Spolu chce funkci předsedy sněmovny. Klub ANO povede Schillerová, nahradí Faltýnka". Czech Radio (in Czech). 12 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  18. ^ Zykmundová, Barbora (20 October 2021). "Schillerová i Havlíček vstoupili do ANO. V Babišově vládě byli dosud jako nestraníci". CNN Prima News (in Czech). Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  19. ^ "Babiš obhájil post šéfa ANO, za dva roky už kandidovat nebude. Prvním místopředsedou je Havlíček". Czech Radio (in Czech). 12 February 2022.
  20. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí konané 23.09 – 24.09.2022 | Obec Brno | Kandidátní listina ANO 2011" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Volby do zastupitelstev obcí konané 23.09 – 24.09.2022 | Obec Brno-Komín | Kandidátní listina ANO 2011" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  22. ^ Gavenda, Jaroslav; Rambousková, Michaela; Stuchlíková, Lucie (8 February 2023). "Babiš udělal úkrok stranou. ANO představilo dvě "hlavní tváře"". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech).
  23. ^ Kopecký, Josef (10 February 2024). "Babiš zůstal v čele ANO. Ve vládě chce uklidit zemi, usiluje o zrazené voliče". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Prague: Mafra.
  24. ^ Onderka, Josef (8 June 2021). "40 let šťastně spolu: Kdo je tajemný manžel Aleny Schillerové, pan Jaroslav". Extra (in Czech).
  25. ^ "Žalobci podmíněně zastavili stíhání zetě Schillerové". Neovlívni (in Czech). 4 December 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  26. ^ Charvát, Jiří (6 August 2018). "Alena Schillerová přivítala do rodiny třetí vnouče. Jako babička prý děti rozmazluje, dcera jí to vyčítala". Extra (in Czech).
  27. ^ a b "Angličtina, o které se mluví. Poslechněte si šéfku státní kasy". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). 15 May 2020.
  28. ^ Dolejší, Václav (28 January 2022). "Dva miliony ze státního. Účet za Schillerové Instagram". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  29. ^ Slonková, Sabina (31 January 2022). "Složitá materie ministerstva financí na Instagramu Aleny Schillerové". Neolivní (in Czech).
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