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HOW TO BLOCK THE FLUNKEYS' WAY
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 11, 2008
After the inauguration of the President and the appointment of the
Prime Minister, the formation of the new government has become an
agenda issue.
The new government will certainly consist of professionals having many
years' experience in separate spheres, as well as representatives of
the political parties that have joined the quadrilateral coalition
agreement.
The failure to properly combine the principles of the political parties
with the principles of professionalism was one of the most important
omissions of the human resource policy of the past few years. And as
a result, the executive often came face to face with sad, sometimes
even curious facts.
The fact that the nomination of separate individuals for different
positions within the frameworks of the coalition agreement was not
done in a public manner is not something new either. The issues were
actually resolved by the top figures of the parties and their closest
people who often guided themselves by the principle of personal ties.
Let's recall at least how the issue of having a literate and competent
Minister of Culture had turned into a specific kind of problem. Based
on the principles of the coalition, the sphere of culture was, during
the past years, entrusted to individuals who acted absolutely in
contravention of the definition of the term "culture".
The reason is that the appointment of human resources by the leaders
of parties was of somewhat "imperative" character, as it was difficult
to even think that the forces which had formed a coalition many times
in the past did not have such human resources that could form the
image of literate and decent officials; let alone professionalism.
During the recent years, the real cause of that phenomenon became
clear. The major part of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers appointed
by party "quotas" were those people who used to act as "flunkeys"
for the top figures of the given parties. And in the present-day
conditions, when there are simultaneously 4 parties some way or
another involved in the process of forming the government, the risk
of repeating the mistakes of the past is increasing as well.
The new President and Prime Minister are again faced with the following
hard dilemma: "party or professionalism?" The necessity of forming a
broad political cooperation requires that the decision of the given
party (which, in this particular case, is the same as the decision of
its leader) be respected in an unreserved manner, but the necessity
of maintaining and strengthening the rating and the reputation of the
new authorities simply necessitates the adoption of double standards in
the process of choosing each particular candidate. That is, to combine
the principles of the parties with the requirements of professionalism
and elementary culture.
Therefore, we believe it's time for the coalition government to
replace the principle of "sphere distribution" with the principle
of the "general human resource bank". This means it's possible to
previously draw up a general list of potential leaders nominated by
all the 4 parties, so as the President and the future Prime Minister
will be able select the professional and competent human resources,
based on the principle of the proportionality of the seats allocated
to the parties.
The number of the portfolios belonging to each party will be based upon
the agreement of the parties involved in the coalition; however, the
principle of the "general human resource bank" will make it possible
to carry out a double filtration and rule out the repetition of
the flagrant omissions observed in the human resource policy during
the past years. If, for instance, the given party does not have an
appropriate candidate for the Minister of Culture or Town Building,
it will be offered other spheres for which serious and professional
human resources have been proposed.
Such mechanisms of combining party affiliation with professionalism
will guarantee the solution of the major task of keeping up the
rating and reputation of the whole government and finally contribute
to maintaining and increasing the political rating of separate parties
involved in it.
So, this will be to the benefit of everybody and first of all - the
people who badly need competent, literate and compassionate leaders.
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 11, 2008
After the inauguration of the President and the appointment of the
Prime Minister, the formation of the new government has become an
agenda issue.
The new government will certainly consist of professionals having many
years' experience in separate spheres, as well as representatives of
the political parties that have joined the quadrilateral coalition
agreement.
The failure to properly combine the principles of the political parties
with the principles of professionalism was one of the most important
omissions of the human resource policy of the past few years. And as
a result, the executive often came face to face with sad, sometimes
even curious facts.
The fact that the nomination of separate individuals for different
positions within the frameworks of the coalition agreement was not
done in a public manner is not something new either. The issues were
actually resolved by the top figures of the parties and their closest
people who often guided themselves by the principle of personal ties.
Let's recall at least how the issue of having a literate and competent
Minister of Culture had turned into a specific kind of problem. Based
on the principles of the coalition, the sphere of culture was, during
the past years, entrusted to individuals who acted absolutely in
contravention of the definition of the term "culture".
The reason is that the appointment of human resources by the leaders
of parties was of somewhat "imperative" character, as it was difficult
to even think that the forces which had formed a coalition many times
in the past did not have such human resources that could form the
image of literate and decent officials; let alone professionalism.
During the recent years, the real cause of that phenomenon became
clear. The major part of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers appointed
by party "quotas" were those people who used to act as "flunkeys"
for the top figures of the given parties. And in the present-day
conditions, when there are simultaneously 4 parties some way or
another involved in the process of forming the government, the risk
of repeating the mistakes of the past is increasing as well.
The new President and Prime Minister are again faced with the following
hard dilemma: "party or professionalism?" The necessity of forming a
broad political cooperation requires that the decision of the given
party (which, in this particular case, is the same as the decision of
its leader) be respected in an unreserved manner, but the necessity
of maintaining and strengthening the rating and the reputation of the
new authorities simply necessitates the adoption of double standards in
the process of choosing each particular candidate. That is, to combine
the principles of the parties with the requirements of professionalism
and elementary culture.
Therefore, we believe it's time for the coalition government to
replace the principle of "sphere distribution" with the principle
of the "general human resource bank". This means it's possible to
previously draw up a general list of potential leaders nominated by
all the 4 parties, so as the President and the future Prime Minister
will be able select the professional and competent human resources,
based on the principle of the proportionality of the seats allocated
to the parties.
The number of the portfolios belonging to each party will be based upon
the agreement of the parties involved in the coalition; however, the
principle of the "general human resource bank" will make it possible
to carry out a double filtration and rule out the repetition of
the flagrant omissions observed in the human resource policy during
the past years. If, for instance, the given party does not have an
appropriate candidate for the Minister of Culture or Town Building,
it will be offered other spheres for which serious and professional
human resources have been proposed.
Such mechanisms of combining party affiliation with professionalism
will guarantee the solution of the major task of keeping up the
rating and reputation of the whole government and finally contribute
to maintaining and increasing the political rating of separate parties
involved in it.
So, this will be to the benefit of everybody and first of all - the
people who badly need competent, literate and compassionate leaders.