I WANT to get to know the candidates for the posts of Constitutional Court judges and will therefore attend interviews with them conducted by my advisory committee, said President Andrej Kiska on the public-service TV channel RTVS's debate show on June 22.
"I also want to attend the interviews with the candidates personally so that I can listen to them, so that I can get to know them, so that in addition to the recommendations of the committee I will have the opportunity to speak to them in person," said Kiska, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The president has to choose three new constitutional judges from among six candidates elected by parliament, and appoint them for 12-year terms. Kiska is expected to announce his decision in early July, as the terms of office of the outgoing three judges expire on July 4, TASR reported.
The appointment of the new judges has been surrounded by speculation that Kiska might reject all or some of the candidates approved by the MPs of the ruling Smer party. Kiska, who last week created the advisory committee for assessing the candidates, did not rule this out.
“I don't want to anticipate this,” he said on RTVS, as quoted by TASR. “The advisory committee has been appointed, the rules have been given, and the importance of what kind of constitutional judges there should be is obvious to all, so I'll wait for the recommendation.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Robert Fico maintains that Kiska does not have the power under the constitution to reject the candidates elected by parliament. He said this on June 21 on the Slovak Radio.
"I don't believe that at this time the president has the right to reject a candidate,” Fico said, as quoted by TASR. “Parliament has elected six candidates as Constitutional Court judges, and, according to the constitution, the president can select three of them. We'll wait for the president's decision.”
Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
