Topolánek, Mirek

Czech right-of-centre politician, prime minister from 2006. He became active in the pro-democracy movement in 1989 and joined the pro-free-market, right-of-centre Civic Democratic Party in 1994, becoming its chairman in 2002. He was a member of the Czech Parliament's Senate 1996–2004, serving as its deputy chair 2002–04, and became a member of the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, in June 2006. He was appointed prime minister in August 2006 by President Václav Klaus and from January 2007 headed a fragile centre-right coalition government with the Green Party and Christian Democrats.

Born in Vsetin, he studied mechanical engineering at Brno University of Technology and worked as an engineer. In 1991 he co-founded the engineering company VAE Ltd and was a director 1996–2003.