President Ivan Gašparovič on Tuesday, June 23, accepted the resignation of Justice Minister Štefan Harabin after his election as chairman of the Supreme Court on Monday (June 22).
Harabin received 15 out of 17 votes in the Judicial Council, the body responsible for electing the Supreme Court chairman (two members abstained from voting). Harabin’s only opponent, Eva Babiaková, received no votes, while 14 council members voted against her and three abstained, the TASR newswire wrote.
The junior coalition party the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) will nominate a new justice minister within seven days, HZDS MP Jozef Halecký told TASR on the Tuesday. “Personally, I’d like to see a woman in the post, one who is appropriately legally educated and well-mannered, who will be able to soothe the situation at the ministry, and bring peace and prudence in the run-up to the 2010 election,” Halecký said, adding that a higher ratio of women would be good for the government. He added that the HZDS would prefer an expert to faces known from the media.
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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