Page 54 - bne magazine November 2021_20211104 uzbekistan risding

54 I Southeast Europe bne November 2021
appointmets in schools and hospitals have to pass ruling parties’ filters.
“The political culture and awareness should increase and there is a need for fair competition and professionalism to come in the first place. Lack of professionalism is the reason why people emigrate,” the head of the anti-corruption commission told
bne IntelliNews.
The preliminary figures from the latest census, which ended on September 30, showed that over 1.8mn people live in the country, nearly 200,000 fewer than in the previous census in 2002. It is estimated that several hundred people emigrated mostly to Western European countries in search of a better life.
The anti-corruption body most
often acts on complaints about party-influenced employments and appointments of directors, nepotism, public procurements as well as violation in election activities.
Head of TI Macedonia Slagjana Taseva said in February that the government needs to take a clear stand and demonstrate political will to effectively address long-standing problems of politicisation and corruption in public employment procedures.
In a comment on the NGO’s website, Taseva cited the chair of Transparency International, Delia Ferreira Rubio,
www.bne.eu
as saying that the CPI results should be taken seriously and the reality
of corruption can be changed by establishing strong political will
to change attitudes and corrupt behaviour, which creates uncertainty for business, threatens rule of law and weakens protections of human rights.
The recently launched initiative
is not the first time the Social Democrat-led government has
tried to reinvigorate its efforts to fight corruption and make the state administration more effective. Back in 2019 the government discharged nearly 70 directors and members of management and supervisory boards as part of the “Operation Broom” launched to eliminate weaknesses in the government, the SDSM, public companies, agencies and institutions.
However, the launch of Operation Broom was marred by a drug scandal involving an MP from the governing coalition, Pavle Bogoevski, who resigned in May 2019 after an audio recording appeared to show him ordering cocaine.
Local election campaign
Good intentions are often trumped
by political expediency as elections approach. As Ivanovska pointed out, in the run-up to the local elections there has been disrespect for election rules and government undertakings have been timed to coincide with the pre-
election period, among them the launch of tenders and advertising new jobs in the public sector.
“This undermines the election process,” she said.
The latest surprising move by the government confirms Ivanovska’s warning; just before the election the ministry of administration proposed a draft bill to reduce the weekly working hours of the public administration’s employees from 40 to 36, which means they will work only four hours on Fridays.
While civil servants cheered the proposal, the civil organisation United Workers expressed concerns over the circumstances related to the new draft in terms of its content and timing.
“Such changes will contribute to enormous differences in the status of employees in the public and the private sector, promoting the privileged status of the state administration that has been held captive by the ruling parties for many years,” the organisation said.
Procurement scandal looms
Another controversial move by the government concerns its decision
to appoint a strategic partner, the consortium Bechtel-Enka, to build several motorway sections, as part of Corridor VIII, without a competitive tender.
The anti-corruption commission urged President Stevo Pendarovski not to sign the law, but he rejected the appeal.
The commission then referred the case to the Constitutional Court. However, even before the court came out with an opinion, Zaev met representatives of Bechtel-Enka on September 29, explaining that they are using the time before the court decision to work on details of the future agreement, suggesting that this is a done deal.
The tie-up of Bechtel-Enka has been criticised previously for being involved in non-transparent and expensive projects in Albania, Kosovo and Serbia.