BRATISLAVA, December 7, (WEBNOVINY) — Leader of the strongest opposition party SMER-SD Robert Fico wants to hold talks with the ruling coalition on the new prosecutor general. As he said in parliament on Tuesday, he is not interested in a debate with Prime Minister Iveta Radicova (SDKU-DS), as he can not rely on her word. “I am offering a solution, I am giving an offer to hold talks,” Fico called on the ruling coalition.
He believes that the ruling quartet wants to politically take over the Office of the Prosecutor General. According to him, the coalition candidate for prosecutor general Jozef Centes is a nominee of the SaS party, Jozef Szabo nominated by the MOST-HID party is to be the deputy prosecutor general and KDH is to be represented by Martin Lauko. The opposition leader claims that there are agreements on replacements of directors of sections and Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic (KDH) is to have key influence on criminal proceedings. As under these circumstances, Centes is not an acceptable candidate for the SMER-SD party, and incumbent prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka is unacceptable for the coalition, the parties should agree on a new name across the whole political spectrum. Nonetheless, he insists on a secret ballot instead of an open vote, which the coalition wants to push for.
Fico also alleged that behind the two failed attempts to elect Jozef Centes for new prosecutor general could be the SDKU-DS, as its candidate is not represented on the top posts of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Slovak Parliament failed to elect the new prosecutor general for the next seven-year term in a secret ballot, in line with expectations. MPs for the governing coalition did not cast their ballots and thus none of the candidates won the necessary simple majority of the votes.
Of the 150 deputies who took over their ballot papers, 71 voted for the incumbent Prosecutor General Dobroslav Trnka while the ruling coalition’s joint candidate Jozef Centes did not win a single vote. Seventy-nine deputies of the coalition did not cast their ballots.
SITA