Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) leader Richard Sulík has expressed disappointment at the explanation given on Thursday, May 19, by fellow coalition party leader Mikuláš Dzurinda as to why the latter's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) had rejected SaS’s candidate for the post of National Security Authority (NBÚ) director, Supreme Court judge Peter Paluda.
Sulík described Dzurinda’s arguments as “pseudo-reasons”, and accepted only one of the SDKÚ's objections – that concerning Paluda’s stated plan to re-evaluate security clearances previously issued by the NBÚ, which is Slovakia's main security vetting agency.
“I agree with this objection to a certain extent,” said Sulík, pointing to the retroactivity of such a move. “I’m also sorry that Mr Paluda made various statements before assuming office,” Sulík told journalists.
The remaining three reasons for Paluda’s rejection, as cited by Dzurinda, aren’t material, however, Sulík said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. These concerned 1) a legal dispute initiated by Paluda against the state over his pay; 2) the way that SaS announced Paluda’s bid – it informed the media first and only later told its coalition partners; and 3) SDKÚ’s doubts about Paluda’s managerial skills and expertise in the sphere.
Sulík said that what mattered most for SaS was Paluda’s honesty. He added that SDKU was technically within its rights to veto Paluda. However, he didn’t rule out SaS also using its veto in the case of candidates proposed in future by other parties. Meanwhile, it remains the responsibility of SaS to nominate the next NBÚ director, but Sulík did not reveal whether his party had yet chosen anyone else.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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