The left-wing activist Katarina Bervar Sternad could soon find herself at the head of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, reports Info360. The President of the Republic first tried to appoint her as the Ombudsman for Human Rights, but it did not succeed, as Bervar Sternad failed to gather enough votes in the National Assembly. Previously, there was speculation that journalist Aleš Kocjan would take the position of deputy president of the KPK.
Our readers clearly know Robert Šumi‘s successor well. She is the long-time president of the Legal Center for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (PIC). In the past, she has sparked numerous controversies, primarily due to her support for illegal migrations.
Katarina Bervar Sternad is an obvious favorite of the President, as she is intensively trying to place her in various positions before the end of her term. Recall that in 2023, she also awarded her a special (first) recognition from the President of the Republic in the field of human rights. The awarding of the recognition sparked controversies in society. As we reported some time ago, Bervar Sternad coordinated or directed illegal migrants years ago on how to behave when in contact with Slovenian police, and threatened police officers with criminal charges if they tried to return them to Croatia, from where they entered Slovenia.
If the information from Info360 is correct and she is indeed the President’s candidate, then it can be expected that she will be appointed. Nataša Pirc Musar does not need 60 votes in the National Assembly for her appointment to the head of the KPK, unlike the appointment as Ombudsman for Human Rights. The National Assembly rejected her in February this year due to opposition from the opposition. On December 3, Pirc Musar repeated the call for the president of the KPK. “The President wishes, by repeating the call, to encourage a wider circle of independent and top professionally qualified candidates to apply. It is precisely the wider choice that enables a more thorough assessment and increases the possibility that the selected candidate will strengthen the work of the KPK with their integrity, expertise, and personal authority, and thus the entire anti-corruption system,” it says on her website.
President of the KPK an NGO activist, deputy president an activist journalist?
As we reported some time ago, from the outcome of the first call, it was evident that journalist Aleš Kocjan – a self-declared extreme leftist, without experience for work in such an important body as the fight against corruption – could end up in the position of deputy president of the KPK. The President’s candidacy commission also described him as “very suitable.” More – HERE.The deadline for submitting applications will last until January 5, 2025, and the President has until February 25 to select a candidate. If she succeeds, she will appoint the new president of the KPK just before the parliamentary elections.The political left has extremely accelerated staffing before the parliamentary elections, so that it will retain as many politically influential positions as possible, from which it can exert its influence in the event of a change of government or ensure peaceful rule if it manages to stay in power. There have been quite a few such appointments or employments in the recent period. An exemplary case of this was the employment of activist journalist Blaž Zgaga.
In SDS, they call for waiting with such appointments until the elections.
S. K.
