Election Commission Won't Investigate Actions of Interior Minister Sutaj Estok

Bratislava, November 12 (TASR) - The State Commission for Elections and Supervising the Financing of Political Parties has decided not to investigate the actions of Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) in connection with this year's presidential election campaign, the ministry's spokesman Matej Neumann has reported. Several NGOs have claimed that during the campaign the minister defamed one of the candidates with paid posts on social media. As a result, the NGOs filed a complaint with the State Election Commission. The commission referred to the Constitution, stating that it didn't have the power to examine or field opinions on the procedures and decisions of other administrative authorities outside the scope of administrative procedures regulated by relevant legislation. Neumann stated that Sutaj Estok hasn't interfered in any way in the independence of the commission and has no reason to comment on the statements made by the Let's Stop Corruption Foundation and other non-profit organisations that filed the complaint. Let's Stop Corruption believes that such decisions show how rules in Slovakia do not apply equally to everyone. "We have serious doubts about the independence of the two authorities. This is a completely blatant case of violating the law on election campaigning, which is visible to everyone except the competent authorities," said head of the organisation Zuzana Petkova. She noted that the non-profit organisations have also contacted the Prosecutor-General's Office with the complaint. tl/df/zel