KDH Criticises Ouster of Mazak and Majernik from Judicial Council

Bratislava, May 2 (TASR) - The ouster of Andrej Majernik and Jan Mazak from the Judicial Council proves that Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and his Government don't care about the trustworthiness of the judiciary or justice but only to install their own people into key posts of the judiciary, opposition's KDH declared on Thursday. KDH underlined that Judicial Council nominations cannot raise doubts over independence and unbiased character of candidates. "The proposal to oust these two members of the Judicial Council contained no relevant reasons," stated KDH, adding that the current coalition stoops to new lows with each passing day. KDH pointed out that legislation must be drafted with a mind to bad times ahead, which is why it's saddened that any coalition can replace members of the Judicial Council with a simple majority. The party pointed out that this change had been introduced by former justice minister Maria Kolikova [2020-22], even in the face of criticism by the expert community and the European Commission. Earlier on Thursday, 78 of the 141 MPs present voted in favour of Majernik's and Mazak's ousters, while 63 voted against. The motion to dismiss the Judicial Council members elected by Parliament was tabled by 79 coalition lawmakers. They defended the move on the grounds of a loss of confidence and doubts over whether the members were exercising their powers in a conscientious manner. Both the opposition and the members being recalled reject this. mf