Prime-minister's expose related to anti-corruption
Transparency – Serbia (official chapter of Transparency International) welcomes reintroducing fight against corruption into Government's priorities, and planning of certain systemic preventive measures. However, Prime-minister's expose is not clear enough in which direction will certain important regulations and institutions' jurisdictions be changed while certain necessary measures to fight corruption efficiently and comprehensively were left out from government’s plan.
Prime-minister's expose does not state clear enough how will position of anti-corruption Agency be changed, what will be the legal status and jurisdiction of „striking teams for prosecution of organized crime and corruption“ and especially matter of what could be coordinative role of Ministry of Justice in their work, whether huge loopholes in existing Draft Whistleblowers' Law will be resolved, and what other anti-corruption regulations will be proposed.
Although expose does not mention Law on Financing of Political Activities, Prime- minister announced, in his closing remarks, planning of significant decrease in budget allocation to political parties, which is the matter regulated through this act.
As the expose does not mention Government’s relation towards decisions and recommendations of independent state organs, which was usual in introductory speeches of previous Prime-ministers, only hope remains that in this case Government will act rather than just declare.
Undoubtedly useful are plans for rationalization of public sector, finalization of public companies' reconstruction process, decreasing budget deficit and gray economy, introducing of e-government and reducing of deadlines for license issuing. Related to previously said is „reducing number of public sector employees… especially those that are appointed by political parties“ and „complete professionalization in public companies' management“. Especially important is envisaging of functional analysis prior to public sector reform, although it seems that envisaged deadline for that job is too short. However, it remains unclear how will be determined who are „party appointed persons“ and what were the obstacles, in year and a half of previous Government period, to implement provisions of the Law on Public Companies on recruitment of directors in public competition and on Governmental control of those companies.
Having in mind that numerous reforms in state-investors/businessmen relations will be implemented, remains to be seen how will promised „reduction of discretionary decision making“ when awarding state incentives be resolved and how will other promises be carried out. Equally important is to change on-going malpractice of the Government, widely performed in last two years as well, to hide agreements and contracts between Government and foreign investors from the public.
Transparency – Serbia
Belgrade, April 28th 2014
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