Disagreements between HDZ and MOST continue.
Croatian Radio Television (HRT) could become one of the major casualties of the election campaign which is entering its final phase. As it stands now, HRT could be left without a director general after 4 September, when a six-month term of acting Director General Siniša Kovačić expires, reports Večernji List on August 26, 2016.
The background of the whole story is a new political conflict between HDZ and MOST, which are still together in the caretaker government. According to reports, MOST did not allow for this agenda item to be considered at a cabinet meeting and therefore HDZ ministers, who would like to extend Kovačić’s term, could not outvote ministers from MOST, who oppose Kovačić. “This issue was considered at an informal meeting of government leadership, but has not been considered by the full cabinet. Given the mood in MOST, it seems that it will stay that way”, said a government source, adding that Prime Minister Orešković had remained neutral. The government is not sure how the situation will develop after 4 September and who will succeed Kovačić. “This is a very complicated situation”, said the source.
Nikola Grmoja, one of MOST leaders, confirmed that his party does not support the extension of Kovačić term until 1 October and believes that the appointment should be left to the new government. Asked who will then manage HRT in the meantime, Grmoja said he did not know.
In July, the HRT Supervisory Board suggested to the Commercial Court to appoint Mario Raguž as a temporary administrator. Raguž is a member of the Supervisory Board elected by employees of HRT. However, the Commercial Court declared that it had no right to appoint an administrator and said that the government should make the decision, given that Parliament, which is usually the one who appoints HRT general managers, has been dissolved and cannot adopt the decision in time. The Supervisory Board has appealed against the court’s decision and is now waiting for the final verdict of the High Commercial Court. However, the problem is that time is short since Kovačić’s term will expire in one week.
Many believe that the main issue here is the question of political influence over HRT. While they were still in a coalition, HDZ and MOST jointly dismissed former director general and numerous journalists and editors, and appointed people close to these parties. However, once the government fell and coalition broke apart, Kovačić, who is considered to be close to HDZ, dismissed some of the newly-appointed people which are close to MOST. That is presumably the reason why HDZ wants to extend Kovačić’s term, while MOST wants to replace him with Raguž, who is considered to be their man. The issue gains additional importance given that early parliamentary elections will be held on 11 September, so both parties would certainly like to have influence over HRT and its news department in the last few crucial days before the elections.
