Roman Jakič, a former prominent politician of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia party (Liberalna demokracija Slovenije – LDS), the Zares – Social liberals party (Zares – Socialno-liberalni), the Positive Slovenia party (Pozitivna Slovenija – PS) and the Party of Alenka Bratušek (Stranka Alenke Bratušek – SAB), has a new job thanks to the Golob government. He will take over the post from which the government expelled Zvone Čadež for political reasons.
At Thursday’s meeting, the government gave its consent to the appointment of Roman Jakič as director of the public healthcare institution, the University Rehabilitation Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (URI) Soča. It also appointed two new employers’ representatives to the General Assembly of the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia (ZZZS). Jakič was appointed Director of the University Rehabilitation Institute Soča for a four-year term, from the 15th of October 2024 to the 14th of October 2028, with the possibility of reappointment, the Government Communication Office (UKOM) said after the government meeting.
Political purges to remove capable people
Jakič will succeed the current Director, Zvone Čadež, who was dismissed by the board on the 11th of April, and the government gave its consent to his dismissal on the 17th of April. Čadež said at the April board meeting that the dismissal was mainly due to the running of the institution, and that the board’s accusations were unjustified and the result of a “political purge”, as he is a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS). The chairman of the University Rehabilitation Institute’s board, Tomaž Pliberšek, called such explanations “completely irrelevant” and stressed that he was acting in accordance with the rules of procedure of the URI Soča institution.
Using threats to get to the directorship
The first call for a new Director of the University Rehabilitation Institute Soča was unsuccessful, as the Council of the institution did not select any candidate. Interestingly, the only candidate who applied was Roman Jakič, who was not selected because, according to the members of the Insitute’s Council, he was not qualified enough. The call for applications was then repeated, and the President of the Council, Tomaž Plibersek, was even threatened with losing his job. However, after the retender and pressure, Jakič was finally selected. The University Rehabilitation Institute Soča is currently headed by Damjana Žun as Acting Director.
C. R.
