As Hvarski.net/Vedran Moran writes, at the 148th session of the Commission for Deciding on Conflict of Interest held on Wednesday, November the 10th, as local portal Hvarski has learned, proceedings were initiated against official Jelsa Mayor Niksa Peronja.
The Commission is charging him with the possible violation of Article 15, paragraph 2 of the Act on the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest, meaning that as the only member of the General Assembly of Jelkom d.o.o. (trading company), on March the 18th, 2020 and November the 12th, 2020, he appointed an acting member of the Management Board – the director of that same company – and that on November the 30th, 2020, he appointed members of the Management Board – the female director of the company – all without a prior proposal from the Municipal Council of Jelsa.
Hvarski.net learned the above from the spokesperson of the Commission, Martina Jurisic, dipl.iur.
Not the biggest problem in the world of public service in Croatia for sure, but one which caught my attention and took me back a few years to the unpleasant summer of 2018 in Jelsa.
It was something of a surprise to attend a public meeeting, only to record the speaker on camera announcing that he was suing me. It was the first time in my life that someone had declared that they were suing me. More than three years later, I await the lawsuit.
The reasons for the lawsuit were apparently something to do with my reporting on a procedure that was a little controversial surrounding a tender for the use of the Gradska Kavana commercial space that lay behind Jelsa’s iconic bench. Ironically, it was probably the most researched article I have ever written on TCN.
(Photo credit Vivian Grisogono)
Things got so unpleasant that I wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who was gracious enough to call me over for a chat and told me not to worry, promising he would never sue me. He never has.
We will watch proceedings with interest and wonder if the scope of the investigation will take a closer look at other issues, tenders and appointments should the commission uphold the complaint of conflict of interest.
