Coalition to meet to discuss election of judges

The governing parties Smer-SD, the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Most-Hid are due to hold a meeting of the Coalition Council this week to discuss, among other things, the election of Constitutional Court judges, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said on Tuesday. He added that he doesn't yet know whether the coalition has already agreed on how to approach the election. Included in the expected agreement, however, will be the election of only six candidates, of which the president would appoint three. This would increase the number of judges to seven, meaning that the Constitutional Court would no longer be paralysed. President Kiska has said he doesn't understand why Parliament can't present the full number of 18 candidates to him, enabling him to appoint all nine missing judges, as he believes there are enough high-quality candidates for MPs to choose from. He has called on the governing coalition to behave "responsibly" in this matter.