Experts and politicians on the president’s order to improve the efficiency of public administration

Baku / 18.03.20 / Turan:  On 17 March President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree “On additional measures to increase efficiency in public administration”. The document is aimed at developing and implementing a system for assessing the effectiveness of government agencies.

It is planned to create a new information system in the presidential administration for electronic monitoring of the implementation of decrees and orders of the president.

According to the chair of the REAL party, Ilgar Mammadov, improving the public administration system depends on three components: improving legislation; the judicial system, sufficient material support for civil servants.

If the judicial system works according to European standards, it will not be possible to rig the elections and carry out anything illegal. Otherwise, nothing will change.

Effective governance is impossible without public control and free media, Mammadov added.

According to the leader of the Musavat party Arif Hajili, in order to increase the effectiveness of the public administration system, it is necessary first to change the personnel policy.

It is also necessary to amend the Constitution, ensure real local self-government, and ensure the separation of powers. “Only then can a normal management system be established. By authoritarian methods, by subordinating the pyramid of power to one person, it is impossible to increase effective public administration,” Hajili said.

For comparison, he cited the example of the DPRK and South Korea. The population of these countries is a single people, but lives in different systems.

Despite its small territory and insignificant natural resources, South Korea is ahead of Russia in its development - the largest state in the world with huge natural resources. Azerbaijan actually applies a government system that repeats the Russian one, Hajili said.

Political activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev believes that in order to increase the efficiency of public administration, instead of numerous committees, commissions and agencies, many departments should be abolished leaving a small number of ministries, committees and commissions. In addition, it is necessary to attract competent personnel.

However, the authorities remove personnel with critical views from themselves, appointing them to posts based on kinship, nepotism, and localism. Therefore, nothing in the country is changing.

It is also important to create a fair judicial system, free media, stop suppressing critical voices, human rights, and create conditions free activity for parties and NGOs. Without this, any orders, decrees will remain on paper. –06D-