BRATISLAVA, May 13, (WEBNOVINY) – Jozef Centes has decided to give up his candidacy for the post of prosecutor general owing to suspicions connected with the last secret ballot on the new prosecutor chief in parliament. He explained that he had rescinded the approval with his candidacy for the prosecutor general as the last secret ballot was marked with suspicions of corruption and extortion, which the law-enforcement bodies have been investigating. “As information on the suspicions reappeared in the media, under such circumstances I did not want to be a part of this information,” Centes explained his reasons. He underscored that no one asked him to withdraw his candidacy. “It is my free decision, just as when I decided to accept the candidacy,” he said.
Centes’s decision concerns the secret ballot of the new prosecutor general slated for May 17. He did not want to say whether he would run in a public vote, which should be held in the event that MPs fail to elect the new prosecutor general next week. Centes added that any such statements would be premature.
At the last secret ballot to elect the new prosecutor general, Dobroslav Trnka whose term in office ended in February was a mere one vote short of being reelected to the post. The coalition feared that Trnka might be reelected as prosecutor general and thus its MPs took photos of their ballots and published them to prove they did not vote for Trnka but for Centes. The Constitutional Court however ruled that such behavior thwarted the secret ballot and infringed rights of one of the candidates, Dobroslav Trnka and ordered to repeat the secret ballot. Meanwhile the coalition voted to pass a bill to change the parliamentary standing order enabling a public vote on the new prosecutor general. However, the president has vetoed the bill, which is now back in parliament.
SITA