The first legislative activity submitted by several MP’s after the constitution of the new Government of Montenegro and new convocation of the Parliament was the Draft Law Amending the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees.
Considering the proposed provisions, the broader context and the current situation in public administration, our goal is to provide a critical review of managerial positions in the public administration, including the proposed changes by the new MP’s. In addition, we aim to identify other depoliticisation strategies and professionalisation of managerial positions, that have not been covered yet neither by the initiatives of the old authorities nor by the new one.
The need to dismantle the employment according to party preferences, set by the previous government- the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and its coalition partners, is something that following the elections on Aug. 30, 2020 has often been highlighted in public as a main priority.
The research conducted for the needs of the Institute Alternative, showed that Montenegrin citizens considered political and personal ties to be an easier path to “public administration” employment, than their education and expertise. The “Surveillance affair” also contributed to that, revealing in 2013 the “party employment” mechanisms, as one of the main levers of former government. On the other hand, there was a lot of speculation regarding the so-called employment “by depth” proposed by certain political parties of the new parliamentary majority, without specifying what kind of “depth” and positions they refer to.
