Skopje, 27 December 2024 (MIA) — The Ministry of Public Administration has proposed four new bills to eliminate partisanship in the public administration, to introduce transparent and objective procedures for hiring government workers, and to align public servants' salaries with their general collective agreement.

Three of the four new bills — the bill on public sector employees, the bill on civil servants and the bill on professional development and training of civil servants — have already been posted for public scrutiny on the ENER electronic register of regulation, Minister of Public Administration Goran Minchev told a news conference Friday.

The new bill on inspection supervision will be posted on ENER on Monday, he said.

The bills will also be reviewed by the Secretariat for Legislation, the Ministry of Finance and the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.

According to Minchev, public servats' paychecks as of March 1 will be eight percent higher, in line with their general collective agreement.

The raises were proposed by the Ministry of Public Administration, he said, "as a sign of respect for the work of all public servants and their contribution to providing quality services to citizens."

The key benefit of the new bills, he added, would be to eliminate political influence in the public sector and introduce the practice of hiring public servants on the basis of merit, competence and professionalism.

Minchev said all job announcements would be public, posted on the website of the Administration Agency. Job applicants would be evaluated in a fair, competitive three-part process consisting of document verification, testing and interviews.

In line with the bill on professional development and training of civil servants, an Administration Academy will be established to provide public servants with continuous training courses "to prepare them for any future challenges," according to Minchev.

The new draft laws would also help cut budget costs, he said.

"The new bill on inspection supervision," Minchev said, "brings concrete benefits and a serious reorganization of the state administration. We are initiating cost cutting, institutional strengthening and boosting civil service efficiency."

The public administration minister said this showed the government's commitment to restoring trust in institutions and to their strong vision for a modern, non-partisan administration, solely in the service of citizens.

He said the Inspection Council would be dissolved, which would save the budget EUR 255,000 per year. Its members would join the staff of the Ministry of Public Administration, "sending the clear message that public administration is here to serve citizens and not party interests."

Promotions would be also merit-based, Minchev said, and given after a performance review.

The process of drafting the bills was inclusive and transparent, he said, adding that the bills had been discussed during four public debates attended by legal experts as well as representatives of civil associations, unions, local self-government units, members of academia and members of the public.

Asked by a journalist if any public servants would be transferred into the private sector to cut administrative bloat, Minchev said not many people applied for public administration jobs because salaries were low.

"You can't hire an IT engineer in public administration and tell him his starting salary will be EUR 450-500, when he earns a salary of EUR 1,500-2,000 working from home," Minchev said, adding that there were more public sector job vacancies than before.

"Society is changing," he said. "No one is 'married' to the public administration."

To counter the shortage of professionals, Minchev said the new Administration Academy would cooperate with universities to motivate graduates with the right skills to apply for jobs in the public sector. mr/