THE THREE candidates for the post of general prosecutor, Dobroslav Trnka, Eva Mišíková and Ján Hrivnák, introduced themselves to the Slovak parliament’s constitutional and mandate committee on October 27. Parliament is expected to hold a vote to select the new general prosecutor on November 3.
Hrivnák, proposed by Jana Dubovcová of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), currently works at the Special Prosecutor’s office and told the committee that he considers it important to weaken what he called the autocratic regime that enables the general prosecutor to intervene in any case, adding that he does not want to curb the authority of the general prosecutor’s position but only to reduce the risk of abuse, the Sme daily reported.
Mišíková, the joint candidate of the three junior coalition parties, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and Most-Híd, said she wanted to adopt measures which would prevent the public from doubting the judgment of the prosecutor’s office, adding that she is dissatisfied with the attitude of some prosecutors towards the cases they supervise, Sme wrote.
Trnka, the incumbent who was proposed by the opposition Smer party and also by SDKÚ MP Stanislav Janiš, a move that caused dissension within the ruling coalition, did not speak about any reforms, Sme reported.
According to the daily, Trnka told the committee that while in office he had eliminated debts of the office worth millions of crowns, filed the highest number of complaints with the Constitutional Court and had also posted an increase in the number of extraordinary appellate reviews.
The three smaller coalition partners have criticised SDKÚ for its unclear position on the selection of the general prosecutor and have jointly called Trnka an unacceptable candidate.
