BRATISLAVA, January 5, (WEBNOVINY) — Members of Parliament for OKS and Ordinary People parties are sending an open letter to President Ivan Gasparovic calling on him to immediately appoint Jozef Centes to the post of Prosecutor General. They are also challenge all parliamentary as well as non-parliamentary political parties to break their silence and join in the call on the president. Otherwise, they risk it would appear as if they wanted all scandals to be swept under the carpet.
The deputies claim that it is unacceptable that Deputy Prosecutor General Dobroslav Trnka decides on serious cases, as he is “notoriously known for shelving investigation of individual cases, misleading [the public] or halting investigations”. „The Slovak Republic is a parliamentary democracy it is the president’s duty to respect the decisions of parliament. Further delay of appointment of a legitimately elected candidate for the next Prosecutor General would be a sign of ‘Orbanization’ [reference to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban – SITA note] of Slovakia and we believe that you as the President of the Slovak Republic will not allow this,” the letter reads.
The OKS and Ordinary People deputies called on the president already in December to appoint Centes to the post of Prosecutor General. The president reacted by saying that the Constitution does not set any deadline for him to appoint Centes, and thus he has not violated it.
Centes was elected by parliament on June 17, 2011 in a secret ballot. President Ivan Gasparovic refused to appoint him until the Constitutional Court decided whether the election was in line with the constitution. The court issued the verdict on October 5, but the president still has not appointed Centes to the post. Centes lodged a complaint at the Constitutional Court over violation of rights by the president’s inactivity.
SITA