Minister of Interior
On 5 April 2000 he was named interior minister in the government of Miloš Zeman. After elections in 2002, Gross continued as interior minister and became deputy prime minister in the government of Vladimír Špidla.
During his service, several scandals in the police had leaked out: corruption among the highest officials, irregularities in business tenders, and failure to solve serial murders. Gross claimed this is due to a better ability to discover such behaviour within the police force. Gross was also criticized for installing his friends and allies as executives in state-owned companies and for misuse of secret services for political aims.
In spite of these problems, Gross was able to maintain higher popularity than other politicians (its peak was over 70%). His youthful, photogenic appearance, skills in dealing with media and unwillingness to get involved in controversial decisions or discussions helped.
Read more about this topic: Stanislav Gross
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