Skopje, 6 September 2023 (MIA) - Public administration should be appealing to the best and most adequately educated students and not be seen as a place for a secure salary and incompetent people. Public servants should be the champions of modernization in society, constantly improve and educate, otherwise society will not be able to move forward, heard a debate "The role of law and the rule of law: Good governance as an idea and as practice", organized by the European Movement North Macedonia on Wednesday.

SDSM MP and Chairperson of the Legislative Committee, Snezhana Kalevska Vancheva, said that according to ancient philosophers, a good government rules in favor of its citizens, and a bad one rules in the interest of rulers, and "we have found ourselves somewhere in the middle over the past 30 years".

“This is a problem. The general impression is that the institutions are not functional, and what is more concerning is that we cannot seem to find a remedy on how to make them fulfill their expectation and work in favor of the citizens," Vancheva said.

The answer, she noted, is not at all simple, but there are a lot of reasons, like the issues with the education process, which shows that more young people want to leave, and that there are more incompetent people working in the institutions.

"Months pass without decisions and that highlights the incompetence or something else, which is just as concerning. It is not normal that in order to do something you need connections. That is not normal and everyone needs to realize it. As long as we continue like this, we will not have rule of law," Vancheva stressed.

French expert on public administration reform, Francois Lafond, emphasized that reforms in the public administration are crucial, because the country should provide an environment for the best and most adequately educated students to become public servants, because they are the champions of modernization in society, otherwise there will be no progress.

The appeal of public administration is a key issue and it must prove to the public and young people that it is one of the best. It must prove that public servants are agents for societal transformation. Only then will public administration become more appealing. Therefore, as the issue of climate change becomes more apparent, recently President Macron launched reforms and made sure that all public servants receive appropriate education on the matter," said Lafond.

Reforms in the public administration, he stressed, are a key element for the country's modernization and public servants must go through appropriate training and education.

"Your administration is 40 percent aligned with the European legislation, which is slightly above the other Western Balkan countries, but you still need to make sure that public servants keep being properly trained. That is something that politicians have to understand and provide, with the help of appropriate schools and agencies," Lafond added.

Macedonian Center for International Cooperation director Aleksandar Krzhalovski believes that politicization and having "party of power" twists things around and is the main issue.

"Why are there 20 ministries and not 16? Why are there so many people who do not do anything? Why is corruption so widespread? There are a lot of things that need to be done, but with my 40 years of experience, I believe that there is a lack of political will," Krzhanovski pointed out.

Aleksandra Deanoska Trendafilova, professor at the Faculty of Law and Coordinator of the Working Group 3: Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, pointed out that the rule of law, which has been a serious challenge for North Macedonia, should not be seen as part of the framework or strategies, but as a value of life.

"Good governance means submitting to the law and legal norms. And that should be our everyday life, our matrix and work ethic. Everyone is equal before the law and building trust between citizens and institutions is especially important," Trandafilova added. ssh/ik/

Photo: MIA