Impartiality in government loses a round

The Sejm has accepted an amendment of the Civil Service Act, which does away with impartial and apolitical competitions for higher rank management posts (like department directors, general directors, voivods and central office chiefs). From now on the government (read: PiS) can directly appoint people for these positions as long as they are in the so called "State Human Resources Corp", which consists of not only previously appointed civil servants, but also clerks who have five years of experience in state administration and have passed an exam held by the National School of Public Administration (KSAP). The formerly independent Civil Service will now be subject to the Prime Minister's Office. PiS has also changed local election rules, thanks to which the same percentage results will be transferred into a higher number of representatives in local authorities. The change may seriously tip election results in favour of the coalition but will also give PiS the opportunity to grab extra votes using the d'Hondt method. SelfDefense has already warned PiS that the distribution of votes will have to be proportional or SelfDefense will vote against the act in the next round. (Gazeta Wyborcza, July 22-23, p.3, Rzeczpopospolita, July 22-23, pp.A1-A3, Dziennik, pp.1,3) J.L.