In spite of opposition protests, the HDZ-led majority in Parliament appointed Robert Sveb to helm the state media firm HRT on Wednesday with 77 votes in the 151-seat national assembly.

Sveb was appointed upon recommendation by the ruling HDZ party after his predecessor, Kazimir Bacic, had been arrested in a graft investigation and sacked by the same Parliament in July this year, about a year and a half before the end of his five-year term. While some opposition MPs boycotted the vote outright, others were against the decision, with 55 MPs out of 132 MPs attending the session voting against Sveb.

Sveb had previously served as editor-in-chief of the state television’s programming in 2008, resigning after only eight months in office after HRT had failed to send an offer to secure the rights to air the 2009 World Men’s Handball Championship. The event, which was hosted by Croatia, was eventually broadcast by a rival private-owned network, RTL Croatia.

After leaving HRT, Sveb partnered up with two businessmen to form a broadcasting company which was granted a ten-year license in 2017 from the national electronic media regulator to broadcast sports content on five channels via satellite, streaming, and cable distribution. However, at the time of writing the channels are reportedly not operational.

“Walking case of conflict of interest”

Still, opposition MPs vocally opposed his appointment for days, claiming that this made him “a walking case of conflict of interest” as he is supposed to lead the national broadcaster which also has to compete for rights to lucrative sports programming. For his part, Sveb said he would divest his 33.3 percent share in the company.

Some of the most vocal opponents were MPs from the conservative populist party Most (The Bridge), which controls eight MPs in the assembly, and who decided to boycott the vote. “We will walk out, we call on others to do the same, we do not want to wallow in conflict of interest and corruption,” independent MP affiliated with Most, Nino Raspudic, said.

The HDZ-led majority dismissed the criticism, saying that Sveb was “the best out of all candidates who had applied for the post.” Local media did not report what Sveb was offering to do as the new director-general of HRT. However, MP Mario Kapulica (HDZ) said that Sveb has “20 years of work experience” and that he “knows how to organize a multimedia company, secure better working conditions for employees, and improve the public broadcasting service.”

Sveb holds a university degree in electrical engineering. “He is well acquainted with the public broadcasting system, having started his career at the HRT. He also has experience as an entrepreneur, both in Croatia and abroad,” state agency Hina said.

Released from detention, former director-general gets back to HRT

On Monday, Sveb’s predecessor, Kazimir Bacic, was released from pre-trial detention. Corruption investigators suspect that Bacic had served as a middleman between businessman Milan Loncaric and late Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic, in which Loncaric sent a €50,000 bribe to Bandic to secure the so-called Gardens of Light real estate development project on city-owned plots of land. As a reward for his role Bacic is believed to have been given an apartment worth 1 million kuna (€133,300) in central Zagreb.

According to his lawyer, Bacic announced plans to return to HRT where he will probably claim his right to work as an engineer in the HRT technical department where he had previously spent his entire career before being appointed the company’s director-general by HDZ-led Parliament in February 2017.