The crucial post of Attorney General, which has been empty since February in a farcical example of the extremes politicians in Slovakia will go to in their power struggles, could be filled at last thanks to a decision of the Constitutional Court today.
Ever since the coalition candidate Jozef Centes was voted into the post by blind ballot in parliament on 17 June, President Ivan Gasparovic has been holding onto a straw of hope for Robert Fico by refusing to appoint Centes to the post, even though the vote was all above board.
As an excuse, Gasparovic has been saying the Constitutional Court has still not ruled on changes to the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure proposed by the coalition to make the Attorney General vote public instead of by blind ballot. This essentially does not affect the outcome of the vote anyway, as it went ahead in line with the rules applicable at the time, i.e. by blind ballot.
Even though almost everyone agrees that there are no grounds to hold back the appointment, Gasparovic has been sticking stubbornly to his ‘position’, leaving this crucial post empty for months on end. Today the Constitutional Court will now decide on the issue and so swipe the last excuse from under the President’s feet. Basically, it makes no difference how the court votes.