NEW heads of supervising authorities such as the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) and the Public Procurement Office (ÚVO) ought to be picked via open selection procedures rather than via political nominations, Transparency International Slovensko (TIS), a political ethics watchdog, announced.
“Unlike Prime Minister Robert Fico, we are convinced that top state officials such as the heads of the NKÚ and the ÚVO should emerge from public selection procedures instead of talks among unidentified associations of employers or behind-the-scenes agreements between political parties,” said TIS, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Smer chairman Robert Fico said on March 30, a few days before being sworn in as prime minister, that his party intended to cede the top posts at the NKÚ and ÚVO to the opposition. He has since appeared to go back on that promise, saying the ÚVO chief will be appointed after consultations with professional organisations.
The ÚVO has been without a director since April 2011, when Smer nominee Roman Šipoš left, the SITA newswire wrote. An expert commission selected a shortlist of three candidates last December but the process was not completed due to the early general election held in March, SITA wrote.
