PS Calls on President to Veto Law That Introduces Annuity for PG Zilinka

Bratislava, March 28 (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has called on President Peter Pellegrini to veto an amendment to the Act on Prosecutors and Legal Candidates to the Prosecutor's Office that introduces an after-service pension for Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka. "Fico's chief of advisors, Erik Kalinak, is talking about lawyers close to the coalition whose biggest qualification is probably their own experience with criminal law in the role of defendants. This is a scandal, and I'm speaking for PS clearly - just as we'll scrap the stupid transaction tax when in government, we'll do the same with this unsystematic life annuity," said PS leader Michal Simecka. According to MP Branislav Vanco (PS), the coalition wants to encourage Zilinka to leave the post of prosecutor-general this year with an annuity. "Smer, Voice and SNS [the Slovak National Party] could then elect an even more loyal person to this key post, who could be in office until 2032. Erik Kalinak has even said that it should be either Marek Para or David Lindtner. This is an absolute scandal. I therefore call on President Peter Pellegrini to veto a law that grants the prosecutor-general this huge annuity," stressed Vanco. Parliament passed legislation on Thursday (March 27) to change the rules under which prosecutors receive their severance pay and after-service pensions, with the prosecutor-general now eligible for a special after-service pension after completing four years of their seven-year tenure provided that he or she has served as a prosecutor for at least 20 years. am/df