MPs to hear candidates for the Ombudsman position next Monday

The three candidates for the position of Ombudsman will appear in front of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee on Monday, February 6. The election of the new Ombudsman will be held on February 8. The candidate proposed by the governing coalition, Maria Patakyová, is Vice-Rector of Comenius University in Bratislava for legislation. A recognized expert and authority in the field of law with years of experience at home and abroad, she has, however, been criticized in the media for ignoring a whistleblower in her own backyard. The second candidate, Janka Šípošová, a former MP who has been nominated by the OľaNO and Freedom and Solidarity opposition parties, is a long-time activist for human rights, mainly the victims of crime, violence and persecution. The third candidate Anton Čulen, put forward by the far-right Our Slovakia Party is a religion teacher who has organised petitions and events in favour of Christian conservative issues, including the treaty between Slovakia and the Vatican and has publicly warned against the Islamization of Slovakia.