Parliament Fails to Elect Any Judge Candidate in Second Round

Parliament Fails to Elect Any Judge Candidate in Second Round

Bratislava, February 14 (TASR) – MPs have elected no candidates for the posts of Constitutional Court judges even in the second round on Thursday.

A total of 143 lawmakers were present, with five failing to submit their ballots. Out of 138 submitted ballots, 49 were invalid and 89 valid. Seeing as no candidate was elected again, a new vote will have to be held.

The vote was public even in the face of opposition by Smer-SD to such a vote, as the most popular coalition party insists on the secret ballot. As in the first round, many Smer-SD members were casting empty ballots.

Lawmakers were expected to elect 18 Constitutional Court judge candidates, with President Andrej Kiska subsequently to pick and appoint nine of them as replacements for judges whose tenure expires on February 16.