Lubomír Voleník’ legacy inspires us 10 years after his death
On June 5, 2003, the first President of the Supreme Audit Office Mr. Lubomír Voleník suddenly passed away. We would like to commemorate this important person by means of brief memories written by the first Vice-president of the SAO Mr. Václav Peřich and by several photos taken during President Voleník’s life.
On Saturday July 10, 1993, it was the last meeting day of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic before the summer vacations. Act No. 166/1993 Sb., on the Supreme Audit Office, had been effective for 10 days, but nobody could start performing the tasks as the SAO needed at least 10 elected Members of the SAO Board. Mr. Lubomír Voleník became the first SAO’s President only two days before that and would spend whole working days in the Chamber of Deputies. He tried to explain the urgency of the moment and negotiated with officials and individual deputies at the Chamber. He also encouraged potential candidates to stand for the elections. President Voleník was the only one who could gain the trust of the Chamber of Deputies when he became the SAO’s President and he was also the only one who could reason the deputies into the Members’ voting. He succeeded – not long before the midnight, the necessary 10 Members of the SAO’s Board were elected and President Voleník set to the mission with his fabled verve…
Since childhood, Lubomír Voleník had to overcome many difficulties. He always believed that good things in one’s life must prevail and decided to use every power so that the good could be pushed through under all circumstances. The story of his life was fascinating. On the threshold of adulthood, Lubomír Voleník finished the required military service assignment while already suffering from a bad progressive illness. His relatives supported him as well as his partner, with whom he started a family. However, the illness was getting worse and he received disability pension when only 27 years old. Lubomír Voleník did not give up and with support of his family he studied at the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague. After his graduation, he became a company lawyer and also helped extensively to a large number of common people who were in trouble. He participated in the civic movement, which was persecuted by the regime at that time. He always considered obstacles as a challenge and a possibility to enjoy a creative atmosphere.
It is only natural that such an unselfish and brave man was endorsed by his friends to take place at the Parliament. Lubomír Voleník himself did not seek to achieve important posts – difficult tasks themselves usually requested his attention. While the social and politic transformation was beginning, he was often the right one, who could search for information in the Parliament library with patience. His sharp intuition often helped to move on with the blocked debate. It is no coincidence that Lubomír Voleník reported on the preparation of the Act on dissolution of the Federation and became a highly respected member of the Committee for arrangements of the Act before it was passed. Lubomír Voleník always aimed at the core of the task he was solving. The situation was not much different when the new Act on the Supreme Audit Office was about to come in effect 20 years ago. There was a risk that the new institution could not effectively begin its operations during the parliamentary summer break. Thanks to his credibility, Lubomír Voleník became the first SAO’s President and made it possible for the above mentioned activities to happen. Only rarely it is possible to succeed in accomplishment of such a task with balanced prudence and determination, which Lubomír Voleník utilised when tried to establish the appropriate status of the SAO among the Czech constitutional institutions as well as within the international community of supreme audit institutions.
Lubomír Voleník possessed one more special gift: he was capable of unbiased judgments, which did not interfere with his strong belief. With him, it was easy to come to believe that it was necessary to scrutinize the issues, which particularly draw the society’s attention. He made us believe that measuring the facts with valid regulations can help not only to the individuals but to the public authorities as well. He believed that absence of bias was a way to scrutinize the facts in depth and reveal all risks, which might provide us with possible solutions. He tried to apply this belief during the SAO’s activities as well, which was not easy at all. It is obvious that in each organization there are people with more or less radical views and the disputes over audit findings often resulted in avid discussions. President Voleník preferred conclusive and credible standpoints to extensive views of the media.
Ten years ago, we were deeply touched by the news of President Voleník’s sudden death when he was on a business trip to Denmark. His premature death was a loss not only for his relatives but also for his co-workers. The public also miss his encouragements and reassurance of the values of politeness and bravery. President of the Czech Republic awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk to Lubomír Voleník in memoriam. We often remember him and try to guess how he would react to various difficulties, what his warnings would be, and what he would say to encourage us.