Slovenian Parliament Abolishes Civil Service Council, Sparking Political Division

Ljubljana, Slovenia – Slovenia's National Assembly has voted to abolish the civil service council, a move that has divided the parliament along party lines. The legislation, proposed by the government, passed with 46 votes in favor and 29 against, with the ruling coalition parties, SDS, NSi, SLS, and Fokus, along with the party Resnica, supporting the change. Opposition parties Svoboda, SD, and Levica voted against it.

Government officials argue that the reform aims to increase the role of department heads and other officials in selecting the highest-ranking civil servants. Božo Predalič, state secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration, stated that these officials bear responsibility for the functioning and policies of their respective bodies. The process for selecting general directors, general secretaries, administrative unit heads, and other senior positions will still involve public competitions, but the final selection will be more directly influenced by the appointing authorities.

Supporters of the reform, primarily from the coalition and Resnica, emphasized that it is appropriate for those responsible for an organization's operations to have the authority to choose the top officials they will work with. They assured that checks for professionalism and formal qualifications would still be in place before the final selection. The process is also set to be fully digitized through eUprava, aiming for significant time savings.

Conversely, opposition parties expressed strong criticism, viewing the abolition of the civil service council as a dismantling of safeguards against political cronyism. They argued that the legislative changes were pushed through without adequate expert debate or the inclusion of key stakeholders. The debate highlights a fundamental disagreement on the balance between political accountability and the neutrality of the civil service in Slovenia.

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It is right that heads of departments and officials also have the authority to choose top officials.