BRATISLAVA, January 17, (WEBNOVINY) — In the future the Slovak Parliament should not only hold a public vote to elect the prosecutor general, but also on the chairman and vice-chairmen of the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) and candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court. A secret ballot would only be held in cases required under the Constitution: to elect the speaker and the deputy-speakers of parliament, chairmen of parliament committees or if the parliament decides so without a discourse upon a proposal by at least fifteen MPs. Parliament will also have the right to decide on holding a secret ballot on the issues where otherwise a public ballot is usual. Such legislative regulation is proposed by the submitted draft amendment to the law on the rules of procedure of the Parliament, submitted by four coalition MPs, Pavol Abrhan (KDH), Milan Hort (SDKU-DS), Jozef Kollar (SaS) and Laszlo Solymos (MOST-HID). The coalition agreed upon changing the rules of procedure after the new prosecutor general was not elected in secret ballot in December 2010 after the third failed attempt to elect a coalition candidate for the post.
Except regulating the procedure of electing some office holders in parliament, the draft also includes changing several other laws. Members of the National Property Fund Supervisory Board should also be elected in a public vote; the chairman and vice-chairmen of the Supreme Audit Office should be elected and withdrawn publicly as well. Parliament plans to discuss the draft at its next session, starting on February 1st.
SITA