DUŠAN Kováčik was elected a special prosecutor for a third term, after he was supported by 92 of 118 deputies present in the parliament on May 15. Only 17 MPs were against and nine abstained from the vote. Kováčik, the only candidate, will continue in his work though he has not solved several serious cases, including the one pertaining to the Gorilla file, a leaked document allegedly pointing to above-standard relations between senior politicians and businesspeople, the Sme daily reported.
“I respect the trust of deputies, especially that I was elected by the constitutional majority,” Kováčik said after the vote, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Kováčik has been leading the Office of the Special Prosecutor since 2004, when it was established. While the first tenures lasted five years, he will now serve in the post for seven years, TASR wrote.
General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár, who nominated Kováčik, said that he is hard-working, strong-willed and erudite. The general prosecutor also emphasised his managerial skills, professional knowledge, responsible approach and even temper, as reported by TASR.
During his term in the office, Kováčik and his office however failed to close several serious cases. Except for the Gorilla case, also the cases of financing the Smer and the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) parties have not been investigated yet, Sme wrote.
Several opposition MPs have criticised the ballot. According to them, a selection procedure with only one candidate is a parody of the whole process. Ľubomír Galko of the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) also said that Kováčik was supported only by parties that prefer his inactivity, like Smer and the SDKÚ, TASR wrote.
Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák said on May 7 that Kováčik is the right person in the right place, as reported by the SITA newswire.
Source: Sme, TASR, SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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