a former bojkovice railway station manager, he replaced miloš jakeš as secretary general of the communist party of czechoslovakia after a swift election on 24 november 1989. the only important decision he made during his very short term was to cancel the clause of the constitution which gave the communist party a monopoly of power, though communist rule had effectively ended with jakeš' resignation. he remained as party leader until 20 december, when he was succeeded by ladislav adamec.