New bill on work of provincial, local government officials

BELGRADE- The bill on the work of officials in the autonomous provinces and local governments will be submitted to the government by the end of August and then be forwarded to the parliament for adoption, Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Kori Udovicki said Tuesday.

Speaking at a roundtable on the bill, Udovicki said it was the first time a bill was being adopted that applied only to employees and officials in local governments and not including employees of public enterprises, whose issues were covered in the recently adopted Labor Law.

The law should regulate public official relations at local government and national levels, the minister said, adding that amendments to the law on public officials and public administration and to the law on salaries of civil servants and employees will be ready for adoption in the fall, and they should all be adjusted to comply with the Labor Law.

“The introduction of rules in this area is the only way to overcome the crisis and to turn the government into a service for the citizens and the economy. We need to find solutions for a system of rewards, training, and sanctioning work in the public administration in order to strengthen the feeling of responsibility and motivation for quality public administration work,” Udovicki said.

She emphasized the need to bring separate elements of public administration together to reduce expenses.

The public sector has surplus employees, but analyses show that the surplus is mainly there in public enterprises rather than in the public administration, the minister said.

Some areas are faced with a shortage of experts and surplus of those less qualified, Udovicki said, stressing that “we need...