Juraj Šeliga

Juraj Šeliga (born 16 August 1990)^[1] is a Slovak politician, activist and lawyer. He served as a Member of the National Council from 2020 until 2023, as well as Deputy Speaker of the council between 2020 and 2021.

Juraj Šeliga
Member of the Slovak National Council
In office 20 March 2020 – 25 October 2023
Deputy Speaker of the Slovak National Council
In office 20 March 2020 – 5 May 2021 Serving with Gábor Grendel, Milan Laurenčík and Peter Pellegrini
Speaker	Boris Kollár
Personal details
Born	(1990-08-16) 16 August 1990 (age 34) Dolný Kubín, Czechoslovakia
Political party	For the People (2019–2023) Democrats (2023–)
Education	University of Trnava

Early life

Born 16 August 1990 Dolný Kubín, Šeliga studied law at the University of Trnava, where he obtained a PhD degree.^[2] As a student, Šeliga worked as an aide to the MP Pavel Abrhan.^[3]

Activism

Šeliga worked with the NGO Via Juris to improve the functioning of judiciary in Slovakia.^[4] In 2017, he founded the civic initiative Remember (Slovak: Pamätaj) to oppose the weakening of the National Memory Institute and promote the study of crimes of totalitarian regime.^[3][5] Following the murder of Ján Kuciak, Šeliga was one of the main organizers of massive anti-government protests where he refused any political ambitions in the future.^[6][7]

Political career

In June 2019, Šeliga was one of the co-founders of For the People led by the president Andrej Kiska,^[8] serving as deputy chairman until March 2023.^[9] He became deputy speaker in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election.^[10]

In May 2021, Šeliga resigned as Deputy Speakership after pictures of him, his fellow MP Jana Žitňanská, and the governor of the Bratislava region Juraj Droba spending time together in a restaurant that should have been deleted due to the COVID-19 pandemic were published by the tabloid press.^[11]

Šeliga faced particular criticism of his conduct because he had been a staunch defender of the anti-pandemic policies of the government.^[12]

In March 2023, Šeliga and Žitňanská left the For the People,^[13] later joining Democrats party by Eduard Heger.^[14]

References

1. "Juraj Šeliga, PhD". National Council (in Slovak). Retrieved 21 April 2021.
2. Akácsová, Elena (30 July 2018). "Juraj Šeliga: Hľadám ženu, čo vie hrať šach". Týždeň (in Slovak). W Press. (registration required)
3. Mikušovič, Dušan (6 June 2019). "Šeliga vstupuje do Kiskovej strany: Oboch nás beriem ako umiernených konzervatívcov". Denník N (in Slovak). Bratislava: N Press.
4. Hanák, Peter (23 February 2019). "Šeliga: Ako to bolo so Sorosom a protestami, raz a navždy (rozhovor)". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak).
5. Prušová, Veronika (10 September 2017). "Zahalili oči sochám a bojujú za ÚPN: Stále nám pripomínajú, že my sme za socializmu nežili". Denník N (in Slovak). Bratislava: N Press.
6. "Šeliga vysvetlil, prečo opustil iniciatívu Za slušné Slovensko". Hospodárske noviny (in Slovak). Mafra Slovakia. 3 June 2019.
7. Vojtaššáková, Lýdia (22 June 2018). "Juraj Šeliga: Námestia nie sú čarovný prútik, ktorý zmení krajinu". Sme (in Slovak). Orava: Petit Press.
8. "Šeliga ide ku Kiskovi: Nechcem byť marketingový ťah". Týždeň (in Slovak). W Press. 8 June 2019.
9. "Ochotní a schopní" (in Slovak). For the People.
10. "Podpredsedovia: Mgr. Juraj Šeliga, podpredseda NRSR" (in Slovak). National Council of Slovakia. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
11. Kern, Miro (5 May 2021). "Šeliga pre porušenie zákazu vychádzania končí ako podpredseda parlamentu". Denník N (in Slovak). N Press. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
12. "Kotleba si odmietol dať v televízii rúško, Šeliga podáva podnet". TA3 (in Slovak). 27 September 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
13. "Juraj Šeliga a Jana Žitňanská odchádzajú zo". Denník N (in Slovak). N Press. 3 April 2023.
14. Mikušovič, Dušan (21 April 2023). "K Demokratom sa pridávajú Šeliga a Žitňanská. Keby sa všetci dobrí stiahli, zostali by len zlí, vysvetlil Šeliga". Denník N (in Slovak). N Press.