Politicisation of the Civil Service under the Guise of Streamlining

Banja Luka, 9 October 2015 – The Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Civil Service in the Federation of BiH, which was tabled for speedy deliberation and passage in parliament, threatens to completely undermine the civil service by linking the position of senior civil servants to the term of office. This will open the door for the parties in power to overtly install party-supported personnel in these positions.

The FBiH Government’s explanation that this is aimed at “aligning the provisions with the recently adopted Labour Law” and that the amendments are inter alia necessitated by “the need for the reorganisation of public administration in FBiH with a view to streamlining the civil service” is just a smokescreen for the intended elimination of all categories of senior civil servants and ensuring that these positions are linked with the term of office of the managers of administrative bodies.

This is particularly problematic given that one of the main tasks of the civil service is to ensure the smooth performance of the functions of public administration, especially when there is a change of government or where the formation of government is beset by problems.

A public administration that changes its entire management structure every four years (and without open competition procedure!) can, by no means, be efficient and expeditious. Are there any guarantees that the current senior civil servants, who, regardless of their possible political background, were recruited through an open competition procedure, will be replaced by better qualified personnel, especially if it is known that the selection of this personnel will be the exclusive responsibility of relevant ministers?

Furthermore, it remains unclear how this is going to help reduce the budget expenditures of FBiH. Given that the Draft Law will encompass some 250-300 civil servants, for whom the FBiH Government has promised to secure employment elsewhere within the civil service, it follows that this move will actually increase the number of people in public administration by about 300. Knowing their average monthly pay, it is immediately obvious that the newly created multi-million annual cost is dished up as “streamlining”. Also, a similar principle is very likely to be adopted by the cantons and municipalities, further increasing budget allocations.

The proposed amendments stand in stark contrast to the recommendations of the EU, whose Progress Reports for Bosnia and Herzegovina consistently show that there has been no improvement in recruitment procedures that would ensure the application of objective and merit-based criteria, transparency and prompt appointments to vacant positions. Granting powers to ministers and other appointed office holders to freely install loyal people in public administration positions will sever any links with transparency and merit. Furthermore, tabling the draft law for speedy deliberation and passage in parliament, circumventing the requirement of a public hearing, only goes to confirm the intention of the political parties to push an even larger number of party appointments through the back door, under the guise of streamlining.

TI BiH emphasises that the issue of efficiency of civil servants at all levels of government in BiH must be given due attention, but the problems of poor performance must be addressed by ensuring better administrative management, rather than by defeating the very purpose of public administration through its further politicisation.

Press rls – 09 10 2015_English