CYPRUS
The President of Cyprus has called for quantifiable assessment criteria to be introduced into the country’s Public Service so that employees are evaluated objectively.
President Nicos Anastasiades (pictured) said such a move would eradicate the cronyism that was a continuing plague on the bureaucracy.
He made the comments while meeting with officials of the Public Service Commission (PSC), who handed him the annual report on the Service’s activities for 2017.
President Anastasiades complained that Government legislation aiming at introducing assessment criteria for Public Servants was still languishing in a Parliamentary committee.
“Give me one reason why these Bills are not being passed?” President Anastasiades asked the officials.
“I am willing to consider any feedback on problems with the legislation.”
He said the Bills would go a long way towards curtailing party meddling in appointments and promotions.
“It is high time that meritocracy be enshrined in the Civil Service, so that everyone can feel that they are productive, that they have prospects because of their qualifications, and not because someone has their back,” the President said.
Head of the PSC, Giorgos Papageorgiou pointed out that under the current assessment system, 95 per cent of Public Servants were graded as ‘excellent’.
Meanwhile the number of complaints filed by Public Servants in courts, particularly for being denied promotion, was on the rise.
The increase in complaints occurred after the Government began to gradually open up positions that were previously frozen as part of an austerity drive.
Mr Papageorgiou said the PSC was doing the best it could with the tools at its disposal.
Nicosia, 11 September, 2018
