Council chairman Eugenijus Valatka announced this on Tuesday.
“Since none of the candidates received the required number of votes, a new competition will be announced at the next meeting of the LRT council,” E. Valatka told reporters.
In order for a candidate to be elected as the head of the LRT, he needed to collect at least seven of the 12 votes of the LRT council members.
According to E. Valatka, a second round of elections was necessary in the election of the general director, in which the two candidates with the most votes entered. However, the head of the institution was not elected there either, as both candidates received six votes each.
Until the new General Director of LRT is appointed, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, who is ending her term and is seeking re-election, will hold the position temporarily.
LRT manager Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, executive director of communication agency “Adverum” Aistis Zabarauskas, and Vilnius University lecturer Mantas Martišius participated in the contest. This was publicly confirmed by the candidates themselves.
Former director of LRT, current head of Lietuvos ryto television Audrius Siaurusevičius, former head of TV3 Vilma Marciulevičiūtė and head of Forum Cinemas cinemas in Lithuania Gintaras Plytnikas also sought these positions. Anonymous sources confirmed these candidates to BNS, the candidates themselves refused to comment on whether they are participating in the competition.
The term of office of the General Director of LRT lasts for five years. M. Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė started working in her position on April 4, 2018.
Photo by Edvard Blaževič/Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė
The LRT council is made up of well-known public, scientific and cultural figures.
Currently, the LRT council consists of its chairman Eugenijus Valatka, his deputy Irena Vaišvilaitė, Renaldas Gudauskas, Deimantas Jastramskis, Laura Matjošaitytė, Juozas Pabrėza, Giedrė Švedienė, Mindaugas Jurkynas, Norbertas Černiauskas, Renata Šerelytė-Mendeikienė, Darijus Beinoravičius and Jonas Staselis.
Four members of the council are appointed at different times by the President and the Seimas, one member is delegated by the Lithuanian Science Council, the Lithuanian Education Council, the Association of Lithuanian Artists and the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference.
