LMŠ Secretary General Investigated Over Official Gazette Appointment

By , 29 Aug 2019, 09:30 AM Politics
Brane Kralj and Marjan Šarec Brane Kralj and Marjan Šarec Twitter

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STA, 28 August 2019 - The chief supervisor of the Official Gazette, Irena Prijović, has reported the secretary general of the senior coalition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) Brane Kralj to authorities, claiming he had instructed her to appoint former Court of Audit head and MEP Igor Šoltes as the gazette's new director. PM Šarec said he expects Kralj to provide an explanation.

 Prijović, who reported Kralj to the Corruption Prevention Commission and to state asset custodian SSH as the gazette's owner that had appointed her, confirmed for the STA on Wednesday the authenticity of a document in which she claims pressure had been exerted on her "regarding the choice of director".

The document, sent by her to the SSH and first published by the editor of the online tabloid Pozarerport Bojan Požar, says she had received on 21 August a call from Kralj who ordered her that "the state expects the appointment of Igor Šoltes as director of the Official Gazette".

Kralj is said to have also demanded that she "report on the staffing procedure directly to him without and before any communication with the SSH".

While she intends to provide additional explanations on Thursday, Prijović said that "it is now the turn of other institutions and those affected to take action".

In a brief first response, Šarec said he expected Kralj to provide an explanation regarding the accusations by Thursday.

Kralj later told the STA he had indeed called the supervisor, but only to tell her that Šoltes was a good candidate.

"I called Ms Irena Prijović and mentioned that Igor Šoltes might be a good candidate for director of the Official Gazette. I regret her perceiving that as pressure, the purpose of my call was merely to say that I thought of him as a good candidate as former president of the Court of Audit and DeSUS candidate in the EU election," Kralj said.

He would not comment on whether he will resign.

Šoltes had been the leading candidate of the junior coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) in the May elections to the European Parliament, but failed to get re-elected. He applied for the top post at the Official Gazette as part of a call for applications.

The appointment procedure is still ongoing, with Prikovijić, who is also the executive director of the Slovenian Directors' Association, explaining the selection date had not yet been set.

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