BRATISLAVA, May 13, (SITA) – The coalition’s candidate for the post of prosecutor general Jozef Centes has withdrawn his candidacy, announced Speaker of Parliament and SaS leader Richard Sulik at Friday’s news conference in Parliament. Thus the only candidate in the repeated secret ballot to be held on May 17 is Dobroslav Trnka, nominated by the SMER-SD party and having the support of all opposition deputies.
Sulik explained that Centes does not want to be associated with suspicions of alleged bribing and blackmailing of parliamentary deputies. Furthermore, the suspicions have been investigated by the police. The speaker of parliament commented that he was a little surprised by the decision, as it came so shortly before the repeated vote, but he understands Centes’s reasons. “I personally would not want to be elected in a way to be suspected of being elected by some bribed or extorted deputies,” Sulik added.
Prime Minister Iveta Radicova would rather expect Dobroslav Trnka to give up his candidacy for the office of the prosecutor general, not Jozef Centes. Trnka should, according to Radicova’s opinion, do so because of his impolite statements when leaving the office, which she considers to be incompatible with this office. “On the other hand, the prime minister understands the human aspect of Jozef Centes’ decision,” reads the statement of the Cabinet Office.
Opposition SMER-SD leader Robert Fico claimed that Radicova had forced Centes to give up his candidacy. “If they thwart the election, it is the very first reason for removing Iveta Radicova from the office. The proposal will be submitted on Tuesday or Wednesday morning,” Fico told journalists after Centes announced his decision to not run for the post of prosecutor general. Fico believes that Centes’ resignation is ignorance of the decision of the Constitutional Court, which ordered the things to return back to the state before December 2, 2010. “This is legally ineffective, he would have to do so before December 2,” thinks Fico.
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