Career
In 1978 he earned his degree at the Law Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. After the conclusion of his study he worked in various economic organizations as a lawyer In 1989 he became the head of the Legal Department of the "Jednota South Dakota" cooperative in Nitra.
In 1992 he became the head of the District Council in Nitra.
In 1989 he was co-opted for a deputy of the Federal Assembly (federal parliament) of Czechoslovakia. In the 1990 election, he was elected as a deputy of the Assembly, in which he worked in the Constitutional, Foreign Relations and Mandate and Immunity Committees.
In the second term he was a Deputy Speaker of the National Council. At the constituent session of the third election term he has been elected Speaker of the National Council.
In September 1998 election he ran for the Parliament for the Slovak Democratic Coalition.
In April 1999 at the Christian Democratic Movement convention, he was elected deputy leader of the movement for domestic politics. At the Christian Democratic Movement convention in Trenčín on 21 October 2000, he was elected the leader of Christian Democratic Movement. He replaced Ján Čarnogurský, who had been the leader of the Christian Democratic Movement since its inception (ie for ten years).