BELARUS
Belarus plans to establish a charter governing the conduct of all its Public Servants, a media conference has been told.
Head of the Office of Presidential Administration, Natalya Kochanova (pictured) said the charter, or code, would incorporate all existing laws covering the public sector.
“It makes sense to formalise all requirements in a single document,” Ms Kochanova told the BelTA news agency.
She said the suggestion had come directly from President, Alexander Lukashenko, who said he wanted to toughen the requirements for PS employees “before taking measures to raise their prestige”.
She said Mr Lukashenko had also warned PS staff “to not even raise the issue of salary increases — it was settled once and for all”.
Ms Kochanova said the charter would help people wishing to join the Public Service to know “what their responsibilities would be; what advantages there were and if they were really ready to be part of it”.
“A decision has been made to set up a working group, not consisting of Civil Servants, to consider the issues and introduce proposals, with the charter or code coming into effect at the beginning of next year,” Ms Kochanova said.
“While discussing the prestige of the Civil Service and its preferences, it is crucial to consider the ways to toughen requirements for people working in Government bodies.”
She said the Public Service was akin to military service “and people should understand that this means not just some privileges, but first of all, service to the motherland and people”.
Minsk, 28 July 2018
