President Ivan Gašparovič did not consider it important to discuss the issue of appointing the general prosecutor-elect, Jozef Čentéš, with Constitutional Court president Ivetta Macejková during his visit to Košice on March 20, the TASR newswire reported. Čentéš was selected by MPs on June 17, 2011, in a ballot whose constitutionality was confirmed by the Constitutional Court in October. Gašparovič, however, has repeatedly refused to appoint him.
TASR quoted Gašparovič as saying that that the decision was up to the court. "This is the business of the Constitutional Court, not mine. I've made myself clear before. I would not like to appoint a person selected in the corrupt environment of parliament, regardless of his name, to the post of general prosecutor," Gašparovič said, alluding to the tortuous process of selecting the new general prosecutor, which lasted more than six months and involved several failed votes.
It was not immediately clear which court decision Gašparovič was referring to, however, as the only cases before it relating to the job are believed to be those brought by a group of MPs, and by Čentéš himself, both asking it to require the president to fulfil his constitutional duty and appoint the candidate selected by parliament. The constitution requires that the president make the appointment, but does not give any deadline by which he must do so. The post has now been technically vacant for more than a year.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
