Jiří Čunek

Who is Jiří Čunek?

Jiří Čunek is a Czech politician who was chairman of the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party from December 2006 to May 2009. Čunek was also Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Regional Development in the Government of the Czech Republic until January 23, 2009.

Čunek was born in Gottwaldov, and after studying at a technical college, he worked as a car technician for a construction company in Zlín and as a safety technician in Zbrojovka Vsetín from 1982 to 1998. In 1990, Čunek became a member of KDU-ČSL. He was elected to the municipal council of Vsetín in 1994 and became mayor of the town in 1998. Since 2000, Čunek has been a member of the council of the Zlín Region. According to media reports, he was a very successful and popular mayor. In 2006 Čunek, was elected to the Senate of the Czech Republic by a large margin of 71.3%.

Čunek became famous across the country when the media published a report on how he dealt with the Romani slum in Vsetín. The Romani lived in the center of the city in a dilapidated building and as they did not pay the rent, Čunek forced them to move to the outskirts of Vsetín.