Ljubljana - Public broadcaster RTV Slovenija director general Igor Kadunc announced on Monday that he would appeal against the appointment of Andrej Grah Whatmough as his successor. He told the STA that laws should be observed the way they had been written, noting that Grah Whatmough did not meet formal criteria for the post.

Kadunc said that the newly-appointed director, who is to take over for four years on 25 April and is currently the chair of the broadcaster's supervisory board, lacked leadership experience.

A minimum of ten years of work experience and skills required for organising and managing major administrative systems are part of the relevant criteria.

"It's clear what that is since it is set down in detail in Article 55 of the companies act," Kadunc wrote on Facebook.

"This is not about a defeat, but about the decision of the [RTV Slovenija] programming council members to entrust the directorial term to a man who has never led anything. Apart from 29 sessions of the supervisory board. However, he had also not been doing that for three years until submitting the application for the post, which is the criteria," said Kadunc.

He told the STA that the appeal was in the making and that he had 15 days' time to lodge it. "If I'm wrong, the court will say," he added, expecting at least the formal criteria to be met.

Grah Whatmough was appointed the new director general by the programming council last Monday. He received 14 votes in the first round of voting and was then endorsed by the majority (18 votes out of 28) on the programming council in the run-off against Natalija Gorščak, the director of the broadcaster's TV division.

Kadunc was eliminated in the first round, having received six votes.