Štefanec took over from Goran Klemenčič and his two aides after they resigned in protest in November due to a lack of breakthrough in the fight on corruption in Slovenia, but nobody from the old three-member senate would face the press together with him today.

The lawyer from Murska Sobota, who was little-known in public prior to his appointment to what is the country's main integrity body, did not wish to comment on this, merely thanking them for their work and saying he respected their decision.

Štefanec took over alone, as Jurij Ferme and Darko Stare, who were appointed as deputies, tendered their resignations immediately after it was revealed that he had been a member of the coalition Positive Slovenia (PS) party until his naming by President Borut Pahor on 6 March.

Arguing that most of the commission's cases can be continued without a complete senate, Štefanec seems to have accepted the unwillingness of Klemenčič's aides Rok Praprotnik and Liljana Selinšek to continue until their replacements are found as part of a call for applications already issued by President Borut Pahor.

Although believing personally - just like Pahor - that they would need to stay on, he said that he understood their arguments, not only strictly legalistically but also in terms of their personal situation.

While it thus still seems unclear whether Praprotnik and Selinšek are obliged to continue performing their tasks, Štefanec maintained that only around 30% of ongoing cases could not be handled by an incomplete senate and that these cases could wait.

Štefanec's appointment has sparked a public outcry after the revelation of his ties to the PS and after it was moreover indicated that he had few qualifications for the job. He has however refused to resign, because he wants fully execute the "president's order".

He rejected today the claims about lack of qualifications, arguing that 30 years of work in the judiciary - 22 years as a lawyer, five in the prosecution and three as a judge - should suffice.

Štefanec said he had done nothing illegal, while his credentials were also acknowledged by the screening commission that proposed him to Pahor as the only candidate.

As regards public opinion, he said that he did not see himself as a politician and that it was politicians who needed to be more sensitive about public opinion.