President Not Yet Decided Whether to Appoint Kuffa as Environment Minister

Bratislava, 24 October (TASR) - I haven't yet decided whether to appoint Filip Kuffa as head of the Environment Ministry and I intend to announce my official decision next week, President Peter Pellegrini stated on Saturday, answering reporters' questions. "I'm, of course, considering that procedure. I'm monitoring the situation very closely and don't wish to become embroiled in the dispute between the former minister, Mr [Tomas] Taraba [an SNS nominee], and the prospective minister, Mr Kuffa. ... I'd like to address the public again on Monday (26 October) or Tuesday (27 October) to announce my decision. But I'm certainly not yet decided today to appoint State Secretary Kuffa as minister. That's all I can reveal to you," said Pellegrini. The head of state also pointed out that the ministry currently has leadership. "The prime minister [Robert Fico (Smer-SD)] himself is currently the acting environment minister and bears full responsibility for it. So I don't think anything dramatic is happening. But my stance on Mr Kuffa, the state secretary, hasn't changed in any way since my last statement, despite the premier's comments, despite the comments from coalition partners and so on," added Pellegrini. The president on Wednesday (21 October) asked the premier to reconsider Kuffa's nomination as environment minister. He also asked Fico to put forward a new candidate, adding that reports have appeared in the media suggesting the possibility of improper conduct on the part of one of the organisations under the Environment Ministry, the potential mismanagement of Slovakia's assets, and other similar allegations. The premier took note of president's stance but said that he sees no reason to withdraw the proposal to appoint Kuffa as environment minister. The junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) insists on Kuffa's nomination. Kuffa became SNS's nominee for the environment minister post following an escalating dispute between the then minister, Tomas Taraba, and SNS. Taraba was dismissed from his post by the president on 30 September after Parliament had passed a vote of no-confidence in Taraba on the previous day. The head of state temporarily entrusted the premier with running the Environment Ministry. am