The opposition parties united in the People’s Platform officially introduced former state secretary of the Interior Ministry Maroš Žilinka as their candidate for the head of the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ). He will probably be the last candidate whom the opposition will select for the post, and they are ready to withdraw the nomination if the vote in parliament is conducted in a secret-ballot, representatives of People’s Platform, i.e. the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and Most-Híd, said at a press conference held on May 19.
Until now there have been four unsuccessful votes to replace Ján Jasovský, nominee of the non-parliamentary Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), whose tenure expired last year.
“Maroš Žilinka meets all professional and moral standards to be elected to this post,” said leader of the KDH caucus Pavol Hrušovský, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Lucia Žitňanská, leader of the SDKÚ caucus, added that “if Smer votes for the secret ballot, we have agreed to withdraw the candidacy”, as reported by TASR.
The opposition parties say that they want a public, or recorded, vote, as they do not want to participate in what they have called Smer’s parliamentary games vis-à-vis the NKÚ head. The representatives of the ruling party previously said that they will support only a candidate who receives the support of all opposition MPs, TASR wrote.
Negotiations between the opposition and Smer to make the vote public have not taken place yet, but the People’s Platform is aiming for it. If Žilinka is not elected, the three parties agreed that he would be the last candidate proposed by them for now.
Yet, it seems that Smer will not support Žilinka, saying that he served the state secretary at the Interior Ministry during the rule of the previous government, TASR wrote.
The vote is set to take place on May 28, TASR reported.
Source: TASR
For more information about this story please see: Rift over NKÚ candidate deepens
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
