SLOVAK President Ivan Gašparovič signed an amendment to the Public Service Act dissolving the Public Service Bureau (ÚŠS) as of June 1.
ÚŠS Chairman Ľubomír Plai, who said his office had kept the state service free of political interference, was disappointed with the decision.
"The president had a unique chance to act as a statesman," Plai told the SITA news agency.
He said that without the office, civil service employees would be hired on the basis of their loyalty to political parties, and public offices filled with patronage appointments.
