Parties allied in the People’s Platform will meet to discuss further steps regarding the refusal of President Ivan Gašparovič to appoint Jozef Čentéš as general prosecutor, the TASR newswire reported on January 5.

The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) and Most-Híd, will likely discuss a proposal on launching an impeachment process against Gašparovič for what they call “gross violation of the constitution” in the Čentéš case.

The liberal Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, which came up with the idea of impeachment first, said that Gašparovič should have appointed Čentéš, elected by parliament in June 2011, or provided sound reasons for his refusal to do so. According to the party, Gašparovič’s reasons as presented recently were arbitrary.

Apart from the Čentéš affair, SaS also pointed the removal of the mandate of former Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) MP František Gaulieder back in the 1990s during the rule of Vladimír Mečiar. The party claims that Gašparovič was also involved in what the Constitutional Court described as an unlawful move. Gaulieder stated on January 3 that it was Gašparovič, who at the time presided over the parliament, who bore the main responsibility for this.

Meanwhile, the initiative is supported by KDH MP Pavol Abrhan, as well as by the non-parliamentary Civil Conservative Party (OKS) and the Party of Hungarian Communities (SMK), TASR wrote on January 4.

Yet, the votes of at least two-thirds of the members of parliament are needed to submit a constitutional suit against the president. The minority opposition is a far cry from even a simple majority in parliament, let alone a constitutional majority, therefore it would need the votes of the governing Smer to back its case. Yet, Gašparovič is considered to be on more than good terms with the governing party.

In the beginning of January, Gašparovič cited doubts stemming from the manner in which Čentéš was elected as well as the fact that he shredded the testimony on corruption of MP Igor Matovič, current head of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), as his reasons for rejection. In 2011, Matovič provided a statement on corruption among political parties to the Office of General Prosecutor, but the questioning had to be repeated as the original statement was shredded by Čentéš, in his role as a prosecutor. Both Čentéš and Matovič claimed that the testimony was shredded by mistake, TASR reported.

Source: TASR

For more information about this story please see: President formally rejects Čentéš for top prosecutor job

Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports

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