STA, 29 September 2021 - The supervisory board of the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija elected on Wednesday Janez Čadež its chair. The board's term expires next January, RTVS said.
Until April, the supervisory board had been led by Andrej Grah Whatmough, who then took over as RTVS director general.
At the end of August, the supervisors elected a new chief supervisor, Danilo Tomšič. Six out of the 11 members were present at the session and four submitted written proposals. At the same session, the supervisors tasked Grah Whatmough to immediately report on the legitimacy of his actions, including dismissing the director of the public broadcaster's TV programme section.
But Grah Whatmough quoted a legal firm in saying that the session had been illegal due for procedural reasons, so all its decisions were null and void.
Deputy chief supervisor Borut Rončević filed a law suit to challenge the decisions made at the session on 25 August. The RTVS management also said these decisions were null and void.
On Tuesday, the government dismissed Matjaž Medved and Petra Majer as representatives of the founders in the supervisory board, and appointed Anton Tomažič and Milenko Ziherl in their place.
Medved and Majer were appointed by the Miro Cerar government in 2018.
A group of RTVS supervisors said today that the dismissal of the two supervisors had no affect and that they were still members of the supervisory board. They argued that a similar government decree on their dismissal from April 2020 had been stayed by the Supreme Court.
The pair also announced they would use all legal means available to determine whether the government move had been legal.
Tomšič said that at today's session, which in line with the rules of procedures was non-existent, "the new majority elected a 'new' chief supervisor ..."
The RTVS supervisory board is 11-member strong. Five members are appointed by the National Assembly, four by the government and two by employees.
