SNS: Agreement on Election of House Chair in Pellegrini's Hands

Bratislava, November 19 (TASR) - An agreement on the election of a new House chair is in the hands of President Peter Pellegrini, who is the honorary chairman of the Voice-SD party, the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) opined on Tuesday. "Peter Pellegrini repeatedly forgets that he became president thanks to the support of the Smer-SD and SNS parties. The agreement is that we should respect the fact that [House Vice-chair] Peter Ziga (Voice) has been tasked with managing Parliament until there is coalition consensus [on a new House chair]. Everything is in the hands of Pellegrini, the honorary chairman of the Voice-SD party," said SNS. Pellegrini at the weekend called for the election of a new House chair. In his opinion, the vacant post is a bad signal for the public and foreign countries. Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has previously stated that the election of the House chair isn't a priority and that Parliament is functional without a chair. The post has been vacant since April, when then-House chair Pellegrini won the presidential election. According to the coalition agreement, Voice has the right to nominate candidates for the post. However, SNS chief Andrej Danko has also staked a claim to the post. Fico has mentioned the possibility of Danko becoming the House chair, but he added that he respects the coalition agreement. The prime minister has also said in the past that the election of a new chair will not take place until there is a firm agreement within the coalition on a new candidate. zel/df