Gaspar: Agreement in Coalition on Harabin's Nomination Will Be Problematic

Bratislava, April 23 (TASR) - It will be difficult to find agreement within the coalition on Stefan Harabin's nomination as a Judicial Council member, said MP Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) on Tuesday. Gaspar views Harabin as an expert in the field of justice, but if a joint nomination by the entire coalition is required, he'll need the support of the three coalition parties. Gaspar doesn't think that all three coalition parties would support him. Harabin was proposed for the Judicial Council by the Slovak National Party (SNS). "I think that a political agreement will have to be sought on Harabin, and if it can't be found, another candidate will have to be sought," Gaspar told journalists. He himself finds Harabin to be an acceptable candidate, although some of his opinions are peculiar. Gaspar sees a potential problem in the fact that he was engaged in a political party and twice ran for the presidential post. Gaspar and lawmaker Rudolf Huliak (SNS) indicated that two Judicial Council members, who were elected by the Parliament, should be dismissed in the near future so that MPs can elect new ones. The parliamentary constitutional committee should deal with the dismissal of the current members on Wednesday (April 24). Gaspar said that two parliamentary candidates will probably be nominated by Voice-SD and SNS. Smer-SD has no candidate at the moment. Parliament elected Jaroslav Klatik as a new Judicial Council member last week. In addition to him, the council members elected by Parliament are Jan Mazak and Andrej Majernik. The Judicial Council has already dismissed Mazak from the post of chairman. According to Gaspar, there are enough reasons for him to be dismissed as a council member as well. Concerning Majernik, there's political will to dismiss him, added Gaspar. Parliamentary constitutional committee head Miroslav Cellar (Voice-SD) told journalists that all 79 coalition MPs have signed the proposal to dismiss the two council members elected by Parliament. He doesn't think that Harabin's presidential candidacy or engagement in a political party would be a hurdle to becoming a Judicial Council member. MP Huliak announced on Monday (April 22) that SNS will propose Harabin as a candidate. According to him, SNS MPs along with party leader Andrej Danko have agreed on Harabin's nomination. ko/df