Ladislav Kováč

“Well, I have to mention this very important thing as well. When I worked at the psychiatry for one year, there was news spread around Europe that the people in world nominated our research team for Nobel Prize. We were observing exchange of energy in the yeast. You know, we had so important results that it really seemed we could win the Nobel Prize. So I was just sitting, doing stupid experiments, and such news came to my ears – that I belonged among those being nominated to Nobel Prize. I was very excited and it helped me in my future. I realized that if I wanted to come back to the core, I needed technology, facilities, laboratories, and I would need to return to my simple models, to that job I did before. Our research was so acknowledged that the West considered out results worthy of award-winning.”

“The others from our group formed a meeting in Umelecká beseda. Gál and Budaj got to the lead and they founded a movement Public Against Violence. In times when I was lighting candles to meet the agreement, they created Public Against Violence. Then we began to attend meetings at universities. The actors started to strike and we used to go to universities with them. I was quite engaged; we formed a club for reforming of our research. My article named What to Do with Our Research was published in Literárny týždenník (Literary Weekly). It comprised a reflection of 1989, which wouldn't be normally possible to be issued. But it was. It all led to the fact that the teachers themselves created their own organization. The teachers went to Budaj and Kňažko and convinced them that I should be the Minister of Education. I had a great career started in Ivanka pri Dunaji, we had an ultra-centrifugal machine. I was hesitating for over a week whether to become the minister or not. I found it comical that I should become a politician out of nothing, since I had nothing in common with politics before. After a week, my colleagues convinced me to take it. So on Friday, I went to announce my decision to the Public Against Violence. On the next day I was getting ready to go on a bus to Ivanka, where my experiment was semi-finished. Suddenly I had a phone call from the Ministry of the Interior that I should attend the appointing of ministers. So instead of going to Ivanka by bus, to proceed in my experiment, I went by car to the Castle, to be appointed the Minister of Education.”

“There were elections in June 1990. The government changed and the Prime Minister couldn't be the old communist named Čič, but someone from the Public Against Violence (VPN). My colleagues from VPN thought that I should have become the Prime Minister. Of course I said no. I wanted to become an ambassador in France and I wanted to do the research. 'So if not you, then Mečiar shall take that post,' they said. Mečiar became dizzy from all that power he had. He learned from me that the research had been badly organized, thus it would be appropriate to create another university besides the Academy of Sciences, not to have divided education and research. I found it necessary to establish also a ministry for the science, not only education. Therefore Mečiar appointed me the Minister of Education and Science. I told him: 'Vladko, you can't do it just like that. The Parliament has to agree on this as well.' But he replied: 'Don't care about the Parliament. You shall be the Minister of Education and Science!' And suddenly the people were watching TV, where was broadcasted how a new government was appointed and Kováč became the Minister of Education and Science. Some scientists opposed and they summoned a big manifestation. They almost threw eggs on me and booed me off. It was in September 1990. Just two months of witnessing Mečiar's ruling regime I came to know that even if I wanted to, I shall never be a part of such government. I was one of the first people who realized that Mečiar is not a sane man. I left with pleasure.”