The Slovak Parliament failed again on December 13 to elect members of the newly established committee that will select new judges based on a transparent application process.
None of the four candidates who were proposed gained more than half of the votes of MPs present in the 150-member parliament, the SITA newswire wrote. Viliam Pohančeník, proposed by Most-Híd MP Edita Pfundtner, was the most successful candidate, with 64 votes, followed by Anton Martvoň, proposed by Smer MP Robert Madej, and Trnava University Chancellor Marek Šmid, proposed by Speaker of Parliament Pavol Hrušovský. SaS MP Jozef Kollár proposed Ľubomír Schweighofer, who attracted only 22 votes.
Based on a new law elaborated by the Justice Ministry, selection committees must have five members, drawn from candidates proposed by the Judicial Council, the council of judges of the relevant court, the Slovak Parliament and the Justice Ministry.
Parliament also failed to elect a new, ninth member of the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission to replace Ladislav Štibrányi, whose term ended in June. An empty chair also remains on the Radio and Television of Slovakia Council after neither of the candidates to replace Andrej Miklanek, whose term ended in mid-September, were elected. Further votes on the vacancies are planned for later today (Wednesday, December 14).
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
