Prime Minister Iveta Radičová has sent a letter to Robert Fico, the chairman of the opposition Smer party, asking him to submit a name as nominee to head Slovakia’s Public Procurement Office (ÚVO), she told the TASR newswire after a Coalition Council meeting on May 2.
Radičová stated that she stressed that the nominee should be an expert, have a clean record and experience with public tenders. According to an unwritten agreement, the post of ÚVO head belongs to an opposition party.
Smer previously nominated Roman Šipoš, who took over the post after the general election in 2010. However, Šipoš resigned on April 11 saying the current situation prevented him from carrying out his duties in accordance with his conscience. He had been criticised in his performance by Radičová after a previous Coalition Council session.
According to the amendment to the Law on Public Procurement, in force from April 2011, parliament both names and withdraws the ÚVO head based on a cabinet proposal. Fico is ready to provide a nominee, the SITA newswire wrote.
Source: TASR, SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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