Mr. Speaker, on December 18, 2011, former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, Václav Havel, passed away.
Havel once said, “I really do inhabit a system in which words are capable of shaking the entire structure of government...”.
Indeed, it was the words of Havel himself that shook the foundations of the corrupt Communist system.
A gifted playwright and philosopher, Havel exposed the lies of Communism. After the Prague Spring of 1968, Havel's work was suppressed. He faced harassment, intimidation and imprisonment.
After the Velvet Revolution, he became Czechoslovakia's first post-Communist president. He oversaw the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Havel proved through his life, words and deeds that moral leadership can be a beacon of light in a world where many reside in darkness. A modest man whose primary focus was the well-being of his people and country, Havel's life should be a model for us all.
Potsta Vatslavo Havlovi.