Richard Raši

Richard Raši
Raši in 2019
Minister of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization
Incumbent
Assumed office
25 October 2023
Prime MinisterRobert Fico
Preceded byPeter Balík
Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia
for Investments and Informatization
In office
22 March 2018 – 21 March 2020
Prime MinisterPeter Pellegrini
Preceded byPeter Pellegrini
Succeeded byVeronika Remišová
Minister of Health
In office
3 June 2008 – 8 July 2010
Prime MinisterRobert Fico
Preceded byIvan Valentovič
Succeeded byIvan Uhliarik
Member of the National Council
In office
21 March 2020 – 25 October 2023
In office
8 July 2010 – 22 March 2018
Mayor of Košice
In office
21 December 2010 – 22 March 2018
Personal details
Born (1971-04-02) 2 April 1971 (age 53)
Košice, Czechoslovakia
Political partyVoice – Social Democracy (since 2020)
Other political
affiliations		Direction – Social Democracy (until 2020)
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Pavol Jozef Šafárik

Richard Raši (born 2 April 1971 in Košice) is a Slovak physician and politician who served as Slovakia's Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Information.[1] A member of the Voice – Social Democracy (Slovak: Hlas – sociálna demokracia) political party, Raši previously served as Mayor of the city of Košice. He also served from 3 June 2008 until 8 June 2010 as Minister of Health in the First cabinet of Robert Fico.[2]

Early life and education

Born 2 April 1971 in Kosice, Raši studied medicine at the Medical faculty at the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik from 1989, receiving his medical degree in 1995. After specializing as a trauma surgeon, he received his master's degree in the field of public health at the Slovak Medical University in 2004. Raši received his PhD degree in the same field at Technical University of Košice six years later.[citation needed]

Career

Immediately after graduation, Raši started work as a trauma surgeon intern at the University Hospital of L. Pasteur in Kosice. By 2004, he had been promoted to Vice-director of that hospitals clinic of traumatology. From 2007 he worked as the head of the Bratislava Faculty Hospital, until 2008, when he was appointed Minister of Health.[3] In between the years, Rasi spent several mFromonths on internships abroad, working in the United States, Sweden and Switzerland among others.[4]

Minister of Health

Raši was appointed as Minister of Health on 3 June 2008, by president Ivan Gasparovic. This happened the same day as his predecessor Ivan Valentovič resigned. Valentovič had long been under severe pressure to resign over his handling of the controversial health insurance reform as well as the general state of the Slovak health system. Robert Fico sacked Raši due to their strained relationships, but rejected it.[4]

After Raši assumed the post, he inherited a department under heavy public scrutiny, and was criticized for his lack of political experience. Opposition MP Viliam Novotny from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party called him a "puppet in the hands of Fico and Paska", referring to prime minister Fico, and the speaker of parliament Pavol Paska, both senior figures within the Smer-SD party.[4][5]

During Raši's two-year tenure as minister he set out on continuing his predecessors attempt to reform the country's health insurance sector.[6] He also launched a campaign of aggressive legislation aimed at improving the public health. One example being increasing taxes on products with high amounts of sugar, or otherwise unhealthy products.[7]

Member of Parliament

While serving as government minister of health, he also stood as Smer-SD's candidate for a parliamentary seat in the 2010 Slovak parliamentary election from his native district of Kosice. In a fortunate turn of events, he ended up gaining the seat but the ministers post due to Smer-SD losing the election.[8]

Mayor of Košice

In September 2009, it was announced that Smer-SD would place Raši on the party's ticket for the upcoming mayoral election in Košice. This was despite the fact that they in April had confirmed that another politician, Ladislav Lazar would be the party's choice.[9] However, the increasingly popular Raši had since eclipsed Lazar. Prime Minister Robert Fico confirmed his choice of Raši saying that "We are looking for strong candidates that can win elections, therefore we are giving people from the executive branch a chance".[10]

In what was to be the closest election in Košice in over 20 years, Raši eventually won with 36% of the vote, 4 percent ahead of the runner-up, incumbent mayor František Knapík who received 32%. The turnout however, was surprisingly low, at 33%.[11] He resigned as mayor on 26 March 2018 after being appointed deputy prime minister. He was succeeded by Deputy Mayor Martin Petruško in an acting capacity.[2]

Deputy Prime Minister

Raši was appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Information upon the ascension of Peter Pellegrini to the office of Prime Minister in March 2018.[12] He was approved by the National Council on 26 March 2018 along with the rest of the new cabinet.[13]

Personal life

Raši lives in Košice with his wife and three daughters. He enjoys hiking and sports.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Members of the Government". Government of Slovakia. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Richard Raši". Košice.sk (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Novym riaditelom je Richard Rasi". Sme (in Slovak). Petit Press. 8 March 2007.
  4. ^ a b c "Valentoviča nahradil Richard Raši". Sme (in Slovak). Petit Press. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Novotný: Nový minister je len bábkou". Sme. Petit Press. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Rasi: Pacienti nemaju v ambulanciach pripade platit". Sme (in Slovak). Petit Press. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Raši chce diskusiu o zdravom jedle". Sme (in Slovak). Petit Press. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  8. ^ Vilikovska, Zuzana. "Ivan Uhliarik". Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  9. ^ Ogurčáková, Jana. "Kandidatom smeru je oficialny primator Rasi". Korzár (in Slovak). Košice: Petit Press. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Smer má kandidáta na primátora Košíc". Hospodárske noviny (in Slovak). Mafra Slovakia. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  11. ^ Ogurčáková, Jana (29 November 2010). "Smer slávi, primátorom je Raši". Korzár (in Slovak). Košice: Petit Press. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  12. ^ Mrvová, Iva (5 February 2019). "Richard Raši: Paškov tieň konečne v prvej lige". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). Ringier Axel Springier Slovakia.
  13. ^ Last, First (27 March 2018). "Slovakia MPs okay cabinet despite calls for snap polls". The Sun Daily. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Životopis | Primátor mesta Košice". Košice.sk (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 21 October 2018.
Political offices
Preceded by
Ivan Valentovič
 Minister of Health of Slovakia
2008–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Mayor of Košice
2010–2018 		Succeeded by
Martin Petruško
Acting
Preceded by Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Information
2018–2020 		Succeeded by