Second round parliamentary vote on constitutional judges

Second round parliamentary vote on constitutional judges

The second round of voting on candidates for constitutional court judges will be held on Thursday. No candidates were elected in the first round on Tuesday, with members of parliament walking out and thus preventing the vote from taking place. This occurred after coalition party Most-Hid objected to the vote being held by private ballot, fearing that in such case they could be blamed for the vote's negative outcome. Meanwhile, ex-prime minister Robert Fico has withdrawn his candidacy for constitutional court judge, claiming that Most-Hid would likely side with opposition parties in the vote. He also expressed doubt as to the impartiality of President Andrej Kiska, who is to appoint nine new judges from the 18 candidates elected by parliament. Fico has stated that he thinks Kiska's successor should be the one to appoint new Constitutional Court judges. Kiska's term as president is due to end on the 15th of June.

Chair of Parliament Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) has asked the parliamentary constitutional committee to decide on how the second round of the election of candidates should be carried out. Committee chairman Róbert Madej (Smer-SD) stated on Tuesday that "the committee will address the question of whether the second-round vote should be by public or secret ballot." He added that he has his own opinion on the matter but will present it in the committee's session.

Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) caucus head Natália Blahová has stated she expects no candidates to be elected in Thursday's second-round either. She believes coalition MPs will find a way to repeatedly sabotage the vote, delaying the process until a new president is elected who will appoint judges that suit them. Ex-prime minister Robert Fico, who remains the leader of the main coalition party Smer-SD, said on Tuesday that in such a case there are tools available to secure the court's proper functioning, for example by prolonging the term of current judges, whose mandates end in a few days.


Jonathan McCormick, Photo: TASR

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