After two and a half years Slovakia has a Prosecutor General. On Wednesday July 17th President Ivan Gašparovič appointed Jaromír Čižnár to the post. He did so without informing the media, politicians, or the public about his decision, an act which is highly unusual for such appointments in Slovak politics.
Only a half hour before the actual initiation act, did the Presidential office confirm it to media sources. The appointment of a Prosecutor General is a highly controversial act which has had a very rocky history dating back more than 2 years. The Parliament dominated by MPs for the party SMER elected Jaromír Čižnár, a former classmate of Prime Minister Robert Fico and Regional Prosecutor in Bratislava as a candidate for the post one month ago. Opposition lawmakers did not participate in the election. The opposition deems the new election of a candidate for Prosecutor General unconstitutional, since in June 2011, Parliament elected in a secret ballot Jozef Čentéš as a candidate. SMER was then in the opposition and objected to the election because it was allegedly politicised. A year and a half after this election, President Ivan Gašparovič informed the public that he would not appoint Jozef Čentéš to the post. The dispute over the President’s refusal to appoint Čentéš is currently before the Constitutional Court. An opposition SDKU deputy and former Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská stated that by this the President has concluded the grand plan of Robert Fico in taking over the Prosecutor General’s Office.
