Depoliticization as priority of the public administration reform

Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) and Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) welcome basic principles contained within the final version of the Draft Law on Public Service in Canton Sarajevo.
Having in mind extremely negative trends in regard to reforming public service at other levels of BiH, the given Law, although containing several controversial and vague provisions, represents a slight improvement in terms of the professionalization and depoliticization of the public service. In this regard we would like to specifically emphasize the importance of the provisions related to: 1. strict separation of the civil service from the political functions; 2. the selection of the best ranked candidates for the civil service positions, i.e. selection based on the list, and not from the candidate list (which is a request of the Reform agenda); 3. limitation of the term of office of the administrative offices and organizations executives, which shall not be related to the term of office of the organ making the appointment.
We urge the legislators not to violate the aforementioned essential provisions during the adoption of the Law, and to enact the corresponding bylaws after the adoption that will additionally strengthen principles of depoliticization and transparency of employment with the civil service. We particularly emphasize the fact that we will actively monitor drafting of the bylaws (and potential additional amendments to the Law) so to prevent any derogation of the quality and intentions of the provisions of the Law.