Oto Žarnay
Oto Žarnay | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Council | |
| In office 23 March 2016 – 20 February 2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 March 1969 Košice, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) |
| Education | University of Prešov |
Oto Žarnay (born 18 March 1969[1] in Košice[2]) is a Slovak teacher, anticorruption activist and politician. Between 2016 and 2020, he served as an MP of the National Council, elected on the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities list. In February 2017, he was one of the founding members of the Together – Civic Democracy party.[3]
Early life
[edit]Žarnay studied Pedagogy at the University of Prešov. He worked as a proofreader, editor and teacher.[2]
Whistleblower
[edit]Žarnay worked as a teacher at Commerce Academy high school on the Polárna street in Košice. He was also the director of the teacher parents association at the school. In 2013 he wrote a public letter to the Prime Minister Robert Fico, stating that the school pays €400 monthly for likely bogus "external legal services".[4] The management of the school refused to clarify the nature of services provided.[5] In response the Minister of Education Peter Pellegrini requested a meeting with Žarnay to discuss his concerns.
Žarnay together with an MP Ján Mičovský filed a lawsuit against the school for wasteful and fraudulent use of public funds.[6] The comptroller of Košice regional administration estimates that over the course of contract being in effect, the school paid a total of €12,000 without to a law firm without apparently receiving any services in return.[7] In 2016, this finding was confirmed also by a central government auditor.[5]
After the contract became public knowledge, it was no longer extended and soon expired.[8] Nonetheless, Žarnay was fired for "organizational reasons" along with a physical education teacher who spoke in his defense.[4][8][9] The dismissal was declared invalid by the appellate court of the Košice region in December 2018.[10][dead link] The new school principal subsequently announced that Žarnay, who became an MP in the meantime, was welcome to return to be a teacher after his political career ended if he wished to return.[11]
Political career
[edit]Between 2014 and 2018, Žarnay served as a town councilor of Košice as an independent.[12][dead link]
Žarnay successfully ran in the 2016 Slovak parliamentary election also on the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities list. In 2017 he joined Miroslav Beblavý, Jozef Mihál, Katarína Macháčková, Zuzana Zimenová, Simona Petrík and Viera Dubačová ti start a new party called Democrats.[13] Following the party failure to pass the representation threshold in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election he retired from politics.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mgr. Oto Žarnay" (in Slovak). National Council of Slovakia. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017.
- ^ a b "Detail kandidáta" (in Slovak). OĽANO. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018.
- ^ "Ministerstvo vnútra zaregistrovalo stranu Spolu". Teraz.sk (in Slovak). News Agency of the Slovak Republic. 26 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Prepustený učiteľ Žarnay verí, že súd bude objektívny". Pravda (in Slovak). Perex. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
- ^ a b Kerekeš, Laco (16 February 2016). "Vyhodený a šikanovaný učiteľ Žarnay mal pravdu, kontrolóri našli chyby v jeho bývalej škole". Denník N (in Slovak). N Press. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
- ^ "Prepustený učiteľ Oto Žarnay podal trestné oznámenie". Korzár (in Slovak). Košice: Petit Press. 13 May 2014.
- ^ "Kauza OA Polárna: Prepustený učiteľ Žarnay podal trestné oznámenie". Košice24.sk (in Slovak). Global24 s.r.o. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Ocenení 2013". Bielavrana (in Slovak). Aliancia Fair-play. Via Iuris.
- ^ "Učiteľ Oto Žarnay píše Ficovi o korupcii". INI.sk (in Slovak). 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016.
- ^ "Rozsudok Krajského súdu Košice" (in Slovak). Retrieved 29 January 2025.
- ^ "Kauza Žarnay sa skončila. S novým riaditeľom školy sa dohodli". Korzár (in Slovak). Košice: Petit Press. 24 July 2019. ISSN 1335-4418.
- ^ "Mestské zastupiteľstvo v Košiciach vo volebnom období 2014–2018" (in Slovak). Mesto Košice. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
- ^ "Nicholsonová a Poliačik zostávajú v SaS, strane Beblavého s Mihálom držia palce". Dennik N (in Slovak). N Press. 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Definitívne výsledky hlasovania" (in Slovak). Slovak Statistical Office. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020.