Civilian armies set to regroup

President Lech Kaczyński recently signed two acts that will completely change the face of civil service in Poland.

No contests for higher administrative positions will be held, while a so-called Personnel Reserve will be created. This refers to registries of people eligible to take on positions within government administration.

Due to the new laws, the Office of the Civil Service will be abolished and its responsibilities will be taken over by the Prime Minister's office. There will be no competitions for the central administration's higher positions, such as directors of Ministry departments and their deputies. Posts within administrative bodies will be assigned to those listed in the registries at the discretion of the body's head.

The registries will include current civil servants with at least five years of experience, people who have passed exams organized by the National School of Public Administration (KSAP) or have won special contests announced by the Prime Minister.

The Office of the Civil Service in Poland was established in 1998 in order to secure the impartial and politically neutral execution of the tasks of state, but according to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS), the system proved inefficient. PiS Deputy Małgorzata Sadurska says that due to the new laws, the operation of administration will now be efficient and the clerks well qualified.

Civic Platform (PO) Deputy Julia Pitera admits that there were "pathologies" in the functioning of the current system, but she says the changes these two acts introduce are worrying and detrimental to public service.

"Political parties will be creating their own armies of clerks, and public administration will be made political," she says. She stresses that the establishment of an independent civil service was a big achievement, which now will be ruined. Pitera forecasts political purges in public administration after each election and says that now, higher administrative posts will also be subject to political horse-trading.

Both PO and the Democratic Left Alliance want the Constitutional Tribunal to examine whether the two new laws breach the Constitution.