ZAGREB, March 19, 2018 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that there was no nepotism in the process of appointing Tonko Obuljen, the brother of Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, as the new head of the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM), explaining that Tonko Obuljen is in this line of business his entire professional life.
“It was a public announcement (calling for submission of applications) and this is a man who has been doing this his entire life. As far as a possible conflict of interest is concerned, the minister did not attend the government session at which her brother was appointed,” Plenković told the press.
Turning to other issues, and commenting on an open letter of the Association of the founders of the Zadar County branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) which requested a postponement of the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and an intra-party referendum about that issue, Plenković said this was “a few people democratically expressing their position.”
“We are a democratic party, we can freely express our opinion, but what is most important to me is that following debates backed by arguments members of these (county) organisation have supported the continuation of the process,” Plenković said.
Asked to comment on the decision to have former Knin Mayor Josipa Rimac take part in drawing up a new Conflict of Interest bill, although she herself was fined for conflict of interest, Plenković said Rimac was a state secretary in the Public Administration Ministry and that her superior was Minister Lovro Kuščević and all laws were being drafted by task forces set up by the ministry.
