KOSICE, October 5, (WEBNOVINY) — Parliamentary deputies can elect a candidate for the post of prosecutor general both in a public vote or a secrete ballot. This is the verdict of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic. The court was examining whether the May amendment to the law on parliamentary standing order, which scrapped the obligatory secret ballot to elect a candidate for the post of prosecutor general in parliament and introduced the option of a public vote was in line with the Slovak Constitution. The court has ruled that both forms are in line with the constitution. The Constitutional Court thus did not accept the motion filed by acting prosecutor general and a group of thirty-five opposition deputies who contested the vote in court.
President of the Constitutional Court Ivetta Macejkova informed that majority of constitutional judges voted for the verdict, while differing positions of Iveta Macejkova and Milan Lalik will be attached to the verdict, along with explanatory statements of Ludmila Gajdosikova and Peter Brnak.
Acting Prosecutor General Ladislav Tichy and a group of 35 MPs from the opposition SMER-SD party represented by Robert Madej contested the amended provisions of the parliamentary standing order. They argued that a secret ballot on the candidate to be appointed prosecutor general, candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court, and on chairman and deputy chairmen of the Supreme Audit Office among others improves their independence from political parties and supports the protecting of constitutionality, free political competition and eliminates influence of partial interests of participants in a political competition. According to them, abolishing a secret ballot is in direct conflict with the constitution. They therefore demanded that the Constitutional Court proclaims the amended provisions of the law on parliamentary standing order unconstitutional.
The Slovak Parliament elected the new prosecutor general candidate on June 17. Jozef Centes, who was the ruling coalition’s candidate, won the secret ballot when he received 79 votes of 80 MPs present in 150-member parliament. Centes still needs to be appointed to office by President Ivan Gasparovic, who announced he would wait for the decision of the Constitutional Court about the contested constitutionality of the parliamentary standing order.
SITA