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New laws will see modernisation of civil service says Anastasiades (updated)

ΠτΔ – Εναρκτήρια Σύνοδος ΠΑΣΥΔΥ // p
Anastasiades addressing the meeting

Modernisation, efficiency, and meritocracy were identified by the president as the key successes in the civil service in an address on Monday to the general meeting of Pasydy, their main union.

Highlighting the aims and need for reform within the public sector, President Nicos Anastasiades said that after seven years of intense disagreements and needless talks there is finally the opportunity to modernise.

“It is possible to pass a series of bills which will, despite alterations from the initial proposals, significantly improve the functioning of the state mechanism,” he said.

The reforms would bring in a new evaluation model for employment, leading to jobs being staffed by those who are the most suitable, based on measurable and objective criteria, he said.

Performance appraisals would see the most capable being promoted, while incentivising the workforce to better serve the nation, he added.

Efforts have been ongoing for years to implement such a system, amid widespread concerns of incompetency, nepotism and corruption.

MPs in January approved legislation which seeks to remove the bias towards seniority over ability and performance when civil servants receive promotions.

The EU required those bills to pass for Cyprus to unlock €85m from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Under the previous system, it was not possible for civil servants to be graded below “excellent” despite their performance.

Efforts to pass the reforms through parliament had stalled for years, despite multiple reviews which found glaring shortcomings in the public sector, particularly in the wake of the 2013 financial crisis.

For their part, Pasydy praised the reform bills – which were agreed to between the union and the finance ministry – as a significant step towards modernising and upgrading the public sector.

“[This is] especially in terms of developing a more meritocratic handling of the staff and the consequent improvement of the services on offer to the Cypriot people,” Pasydy president Antonis Koutsoullis said.

Speaking of the wider mindset and reasoning of the government, Anastasiades referenced the constitutional amendment which set in place term limits for the president – to two – to tackle, what he said, is “regime mentality” which sets in when there are no limits.

He also listed off and praised a series reforms and institutional changes which Disy have implemented over his past two terms, such as the creation of deputy ministries, e-government (aimed to be fully online by 2027), and local government reform.

Speaking to the civil servants, he sought to address concerns raised over the life expectancy of Gesy, saying that “it is here to stay… because the state owed it to the people”.

In making the case for reform, Anastasiades spoke of the hardships faced by civil servants during the Turkish invasion, the 2013 financial crisis and, most recently, the pandemic.

Moreover, when asked whether the government should review public spending in the wake of the war in Ukraine, he said it is not the time.

“Like we did throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we are working with the European Commission to curb the effects of the sanctions issued against Russia on every member state’s economic system,” Anastasiades concluded.

 

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