Slovak politician, born in Zvolen, WC Slovak Republic. In 1992 he was elected to the short-lived Czechoslovak Assembly as head of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. In 1993 Slovakia became independent following the break-up of Czechoslovakia, and Mečiar became Prime Minister of Slovakia. He came under mounting criticism for the slow pace of economic reform and for his decision to proceed with the environmentally controversial Gabcikovo dam project, which involved the construction of two dams and the division of the R Danube. In 1994 he was charged with corruption for allegedly funnelling state privatization funds into his party. He was voted out of office, but was able to form a new coalition government between his party, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (MDS), with the Association of Workers of Slovakia (1994). A report on human rights by the USA State Department in 1996 was highly critical of Slovakia, citing incidents of intimidation of political opponents, abuse of political powers, and manipulation of the state-owned media. Mečiar's human rights record towards the large Hungarian minority in Slovakia and the indigenous Gypsy population brought international criticism. He was voted out of office in September 1998 and put under house arrest in April 2000, following allegations of political malpractice.