BRATISLAVA, November 14, (WEBNOVINY) – Prime Minister Iveta Radicova has asked leaders of the coalition parties for further talks about a joint candidate of all four coalition parties for the new prosecutor general. Instead of the originally planned meeting on November 15, she convened a Coalition Council meeting for Saturday, November 20. In a statement provided to SITA by the Cabinet Office’s press department, the prime minister explains that the postponement will create space for further talks with leaders of the coalition parties and parliamentary deputies who have the powers to nominate and appoint the prosecutor general.
The prime minister further says in the statement that the program of the fight against corruption and criminality can be trustworthy only if the state will prosecute criminals with no exceptions. Radicova thinks that it is important for the future prosecutor general to be able to make the operation of his office more effective. “Citizens expressed their trust in us in the elections along with a desire for change. A change in the leadership and operation of the Office of the Prosecutor General is one of the key steps to a better enforceability of the law and improved trust of citizens in justice and the rule of law, and thus also to the Government’s Program Statement,” said Radicova. “I will do everything in my power so that deputies of the coalition parties reach an accord and elected a candidate who will fulfill the aforesaid criteria,” Iveta Radicova added.
Last week, representatives of the coalition parties the SDKU, SaS, MOST-HID and KDH met several times to discuss candidates for the post of prosecutor general to replace incumbent Prosecutor General Dobroslav Trnka, whose term in office expires in February of next year. SDKU-DS continues to support special prosecutor Jan Hrivnak, who ran already in the first round of the election. The SaS, MOST-HID and KDH allegedly support prosecutor Jozef Kandera, a former judge at the Supreme Court, where he was one of the critics of the court’s President Stefan Harabin.
SITA