BRATISLAVA, February 8, (WEBNOVINY) — Parliament will not urge President Ivan Gasparovic to rush with appointing General Prosecutor-elect Jozef Centes. On Wednesday, lawmakers failed to approve the respective resolution submitted by Deputy Parliament Speaker Milan Hort (SDKU-DS) as merely 68 of 139 legislators present gave the thumbs up for the call. Hort argued that Centes was properly elected to the post on June 17, 2011 and the head of state should ensure appropriate operation of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
According to Hort, the present-day situation at the authority cannot be considered appropriate. Centes was properly elected in a secret ballot and fulfills all requirements but the president still refuses to install him to the post. Gasparovic says Centes in not credible for him and also wants to wait for the verdict of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic on the complaint lodged by ex-PG Dobroslav Trnka, who believes that Parliament elected him to the post in question.
Five members of KDH voted for the draft along with other deputy clubs of the outgoing center-right coalition. MPs for SMER-SD and SNS either voted against it or abstained.
MOST-HID leader Bela Bugar is convinced that a Parliament’s resolution would not force the head of state to appoint Centes. He foretells the same fate for the petition planned by SDKU-DS. Unless the public pressure gets stronger, Gasparovic will not consider a change to his position, Bugar believes.
SITA