Pithart was a member of the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1960, was active in the
Prague Spring, and left the party after the Soviet invasion. He was later one of the most prominent
dissidents against the communist regime, and was imprisoned for his activities, including being one of the first signatories of
Charter 77. In 1989 he was one of the prominent leaders of the
Civic Forum, founded at the start of the
Velvet Revolution. Having participated in the negotiations leading to changes to the federal, Czech and Slovak governments, he was appointed Prime Minister of the Czech Socialist Republic. Pithart is often characterised as a philosopher and thinker, rather than a tactical or charismatic leader. His 1990-92 Czech government was unable to deal with the growing power of federal Finance Minister
Václav Klaus and his increasingly popular
Civic Democratic Party, nor growing Slovak nationalism, which culminated in the
dissolution of Czechoslovakia and defeat for Pithart's
Civic Movement party. Pithart was unsuccessful in his bid to become
President of the Czech Republic at the
2003 election, losing to Václav Klaus. In 1998 Pithart joined the
Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party. He was elected as senator in 1996, and re-elected in 2000 and 2006. He was the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2012. He retired in 2012. == References ==