The Public Defender's Office in Slovakia has been without a head for four months. The problem is that only the ombudsman can review and sign off on the complaints that the office analyses and processes within the scope of the law. In the meantime, almost 400 complaints have piled on the desk of the future Ombudsman, awaiting consideration and signature. The election of candidates is expected to take place at the September parliamentary session, but among the coalition MPs there is still no agreement on a name. Parliament has been postponing the election of the Ombudsman since February. “The number of submissions is growing and there are already around 380 complaints on the desk of the future ombudsman. Submitters thus have to wait longer for their complaint to be considered. Only in July, there were 100 new complaints for consideration,” says Michaela Pavelková from the Public Defender's Office
According to Veronika Remišová, chair of the coalition party For the People, it is important for the coalition to agree on a good candidate who will be a guarantee of professionalism and a guarantee of human rights protection for all citizens. However, she says that a better scenario is no agreement than an agreement on a bad candidate.
Coalition MP for OLaNO, Monika Kozelová, says that the caucus of the senior coalition party is currently considering four or five candidates and she hopes that right after the holidays, on the first coalition meeting, they will agree on a common candidate. She believes that September is the cut-off date for the election of a new head of the office. The junior coalition party Freedom and Solidarity also does not want to disclose the names of the experts they are discussing with. They consider that dragging out the decision is humiliating to the office’s position. The opposition parties also agree that this situation is a disgrace to the Public Defender's Office. The deadline for submitting suggestions for a new ombudsman is by 26 August.
Source: Anna Lačoková, RTVS
