ARMENIAN CIVIL SERVICE BODY DECRIES ‘PARTY PATRONAGE’
Ruben Meloyan

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06.05.2010

The head of a body overseeing Armenia’s state bureaucracy on Thursday
accused government ministers of aggressively pushing patronage
appointments of new civil servants affiliated with their respective
political parties.

Manvel Badalian, chairman of the State Council on Civil Service,
charged that the three parties making up the country’s ruling coalition
are keen to place their members and loyalists in various government
agencies in violation of an Armenian law adopted in 2002.

The law mandates the selection of ministry personnel and other
civil servants on a solely competitive basis that takes into account
their professional qualifications, rather than political views or
affiliations. Badalian’s council, formed by the president of the
republic, is tasked with holding relevant job contests, evaluating
civil servants’ performance and protecting them against arbitrary
dismissal.

Speaking at a weekly meeting of Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian’s
cabinet, Badalian angrily complained about unnamed ministers who he
said are guided by partisanship and other "subjective approaches"
in advocating various personnel appointments.

"Our parties seem to be becoming employment centers," he said.

"Because of them, many civil servants now carry different party
membership cards in their pockets."

"Perhaps I am being a bit emotional but this is the reality. We will
regret these phenomena tomorrow," the official warned, demanding that
the government "put an end to this arbitrary and subjective practice
which has become more widespread lately."

"You know better than I what’s going on, the candidates who are
proposed to you and whom you are trying to push at any cost," Badalian
told ministers. He declined to name any official allegedly involved
in the practice, however. Nor did he specify how many patronage
appointments have been blocked by the State Council on Civil Service.

Sarkisian, who is affiliated with the main governing Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK), seemed to take the extraordinary criticism seriously,
urging the council to make full use of its legal powers in ensuring
the integrity of the selection process. "We are expressing our support
to the success of your mission," he told Badalian.

None of several ministers interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian service
after the cabinet session admitted lobbying for fellow party members
or other loyalists seeking civil service positions. Armen Ashotian,
a senior HHK figure who was appointed as education minister last
year, said: "There have been no media reports on such practices in
our ministry in the past year."

"This is an unknown issue to me," said Culture Minister Hasmik
Poghosian, who has no party affiliation. Both Poghosian and Ashotian
made clear at the same time that they find Badalian’s concerns
justified.