ZAGREB, January 5, 2019 – The opposition MOST party called out Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević on Saturday, saying that by announcing the hiring of more civil servants, he is actually announcing a “new party-based personnel policy in public administration” at a time when 180 people are moving out of Croatia every day.
“At a time when 180 people are moving out of Croatia daily, when young and educated people are running away from a public administration system which doesn’t encourage excellence but suitability, Minister Kuščević is increasing the number of civil servants and avoiding the implementation of essential reforms,” MOST said in a press release.
The statement was prompted by an article in today’s Jutarnji List daily which says that state services advertised 39 vacancies on the last day of 2018.
MOST said the European Commission adopted an action plan for the development of public administration in February 2017 and that since then only 0.45% of the 880 million kuna available had been absorbed.
“This government does not have a vision of public administration as a service for citizens,” MOST MP Sonja Čikotić said in the press release, wondering how Kuščević can boast of time saving thanks to the digitisation of some services when the number of civil servants has not been cut down.
She said Kuščević did not have a solution for a better public administration, but was using every opportunity for new hiring instead of having immediately embarked on downsizing and computerisation.
“Now we are even more convinced that it is first necessary to cancel 10,000 employment contracts and then hire based on competencies necessary for a modern Croatia,” said MOST MP Ante Pranić.
More news on MOST can be found in our Politics section.
