A change in one of the most influential jobs in the Croatian media.
The ruling coalition will dismiss the director of Croatian Radio-Television (HRT) Goran Radman and will make changes to the Law on Croatian Radio-Television. Ivan Kovačić, chairman of MOST parliamentary caucus, said in a recent interview that Radman has a number of scandals and that he had to go. First Deputy Prime Minister and HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko on Saturday supported the proposal. “Radman must go. This is not a purge. Public television has been turned into a one-party television. HRT should start acting professionally”, said Karamarko, reports Vecernji List and Jutarnji List on February 14, 2016.
Although both HDZ and MOST believe that Radman should be dismissed, it remains to be seen how easy it will be for them to find a mutually acceptable candidate for Radman’s replacement. While Karamarko accused HRT primarily for political bias and favouring SDP, MOST has other reasons why it supports the dismissal.
“Goran Radman has been found to be in a conflict of interest. As such, he damages the reputation of HRT and Croatia at an international level. In our party manifesto, we have emphasised the fight against corruption and therefore we support his dismissal”, says a source from MOST, adding that HRT as a public television should be one of the strongholds of freedom of speech and human rights protection.
Culture Minister Zlatko Hasanbegović (HDZ), whose ministry covers HRT, had this to say: “We should never focus on individual people, but on the principles and system. In addition to solving personnel issues, it is necessary to find a complete legal solution.”
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the Media Issues Andrija Mikulić (HDZ) said that public television should be at the service of all citizens and that all stakeholders should have equal access to it, but that today HRT was serving just one party. “As president Karamarko said, HRT is trying to destroy political cooperation between HDZ and MOST”, said Mikulić who added that his Committee would initiate proceedings for Radman’s dismissal, but only after they receive his report.
“They will vote against the report on HRT operations. First it will be voted down in the Committee, then at the plenary session, and finally they will propose Radman’s dismissal. They will immediately appoint an acting director and during that period they will change the law so that the new leadership is installed under the new rules”, said Goran Beus Richembergh (HNS), an opposition member of the Committee. He added that the announcement of Radman’s dismissal was expected since “HDZ is trying to crush all resistance in the media, which is at the heart of their cultural revolution”.
“The problem is that we have already seen the so-called experts who are being brought in by the new government and we can bet that the only criteria when selecting new people will be an absolute obedience to the ruling coalition. But, they will certainly fight among themselves about HRT and Hina News Agency, just like they usually do”, said Richembergh.
Mikulić stressed that the Committee will be open to all suggestions and will discuss all candidates and ideas. Asked if only Radman will be dismissed or will the dismissals include program editors, Mikulić said that “the leadership always has the responsibility”. “Radman has to go, and the person who replaces him will make other decisions”, he concluded.
The program director of the Croatian Radio-Television Saša Runjić rejected Karamarko’s statement that HRT serves just one party. HRT leadership announced that it believes that every unfounded attack on Croatian Radio-Television was an attack on democracy. “The statements of Mr. Karamarko are unfounded, inaccurate and arbitrary. I reject them”, said Runjić. “If Mr. Karamarko or anyone else has any complaints against us as an independent public media, there is a very precise procedure of determining whether that is the case”, said Runjić.
