Civil Service Commission approves political appointments
Following recommendations by Shaked-Levin committee on appointing deputy directors-general, Civil Service authority approves selection of political appointees meeting prerequisites to high-ranking positions.
The Civil Service Commission's service committee approved Monday for ministers to appoint a candidate of their choosing to their ministries' deputy director-general position, pending approval of appointments committee.
The committee, chaired by acting Civil Service Commissioner Udi Prawer, effectively adopted one of the main conclusions of the Shaked-Levin committee: to allow ministers to make political appointments.
A deputy director-general's employment cost is about NIS 2 million annually. A deputy's wage will be 90 percent the salary of a director-general, coming to NIS 32,000 a month with benefits including an office, aides, a driver and secretaries.
Of the 22 governmental ministries in operation today, only five deputy director-general positions have been staffed. If this recommendation is approved by the government, ministers will be able to fill the remaining 17 positions—an expenditure of NIS 34 million a year.
The decision was supported by all members of the service committee, which is comprised of directors-general of ministries and public representatives. Prawer, the head of the committee, objected to the proposal, as did previous Commissioner Moshe Dayan.
Both Dayan and Prawer did everything in their power to postpone the discussion on the proposed change, but Shaked threw her full weight behind it.
The government's high-ranking civil servants objected to the proposal, saying it would only further politicize the service, while not improving governability in the least. Sources at the civil service added the decision was somewhat opportunistic as it was made before a new commissioner was appointed.
The decision to allow ministers to appoint the deputy directors-general passed with some reservations: the appointing entity will be the ministry's director-general, the position and its scope will be exclusively subordinated to the director-general in accordance with the organizational hierarchy already in place and, lastly, the deputy will be entrusted with leading projects, coordination between ministries and implementing policy, but will not be permanently overseeing any unit or division in the ministry.
The deputy director-general, then, will be able to promote inter-ministry collaboration for the purpose of leading and promoting different projects under the auspices of the director-general, but will not have civil services subordinates, specifically not any considered to be "gate keepers."
The committee also determined prerequisites and a job description for the position, in an effort to ensure the appointment of qualified, worthy candidates. The service committee stated these prerequisites will be more strict than those in place for directors-general.
If an applicant for the deputy director-general position holds a bachelor's degree, for instance, they'll be required to posses seven years of experience in the ministry's main area of operations. Six years will be required if candidates have a master's degree. Bachelor's degree candidates will also be required to have five years of senior managerial experience or to have been employed in a high-ranking position in the ministry's professional fields of activity, or four years with a master's degree.
Minister of Housing Yoav Galant intends to vote against this proposal when it is brought to the Cabinet, claiming it will only perpetuate the status quo of political appointments and chaos within the civil service's ranks, with the public invariably paying the price for it.
During the Shaked-Levin committee's discussions, Galant suggested to enact legislation overhauling the entire civil service appointment modus operandi and determine any civil servant from the position of department head upwards will be appointed to a three-year term, with the possibility of extension for a further period of time.
His proposal would have meant a third of the civil service's senior cadre would change every year. Gallant further suggested appointments would be made from a pool of defined, qualified candidates from which the minister may then choose their preferred option.
The appointments' committee will then only examine the candidate's worthiness and whether he meets the position's requirements.
Putting his proposal into practice would mean high-ranking civil servants will wish to succeed in the three years allotted them to achieve an extension to their appointment. This, in turn, will allow the ministers to implement their desired policy. In addition, ministers will be able to terminate any department head who fails to follow the criteria or standards of efficacy in assisting the public.
