Of course, the main topic of the day for Kyrgyzstan remains the change in the structure of the government and, of course, its very composition. It cannot be said that this happened very often in Kyrgyzstan, but it was always justified by reforms and improvements in the work of the government apparatus, as well as by optimization of processes.
Since 1991, the structure of the government of Kyrgyzstan has changed more than ten times. In addition, the head of the Cabinet has changed 30 times. On average, the change of the prime minister took place in Kyrgyzstan every 11 months.
According to the Ministry of Justice, 7 times the structure of the government changed during the years when Kyrgyzstan was headed by Kurmanbek Bakiev.
After 2010, there were four changes.
Historical events also contributed to such changes: gaining the independence of the state, as well as the events of 2005 and 2010. Now it's the turn of 2020.
Former Prime Minister Felix Kulov told Kaktus.media that optimization is needed to reduce management resources.
The structure is important, but more important is the people who run it all.
Recently, most of all attention has been paid to reforms in the law enforcement system and the principle of open data. Kyrgyzstan even joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at fulfilling governments' commitments to ensure transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and use new technologies to strengthen governance.
Ministries that barely changed their names
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, except for 2009, were included in all government structures without changing their names. Then there was just a minister, and the rest of the functions were transferred to TsARII.
The Ministry of Defence has always been there. But since 2014, there has been a split into the State Committee and the General Staff. In 1991 there was a Ministry of Public Education; in other structures, this department is known as the Ministry of Education and Science. The Ministry of Emergency Situations hardly changed its name; in the mid-1990s it was called the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence.
In 1991, the State Property Fund existed, in 2005 the State Committee for State Property Management, in 2009 the Ministry of State Property appeared, in recent years the State Property Management Fund has been operating, which is not even part of the government. And now it is completely abolished.
What changes in the structure most often?
Most of all goes to the economic bloc, which unites, divides and transforms.
In 1991, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, by 1996, the economy was a separate profile. In 2005, the economy and finance were reunited. In 2007, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade was established. In 2009, the Cabinet of Ministers included the Ministry of Economic Regulation. In 2011, the State Committee for Economic Development and Investments appeared, it was soon abolished, and for several years there has been a Ministry of Economy. Now the Ministry of Economy and Finance will appear again.
The collection of tax and customs fees in different years was carried out by the State Committee on Taxes and Duties and the State Customs Committee, then by the State Tax Service and the State Customs Service.
According to Kulov, the country needs a Ministry of Economy, Industry and Trade, because most of its products must be sold.
Nobody in the country is systematically engaged in this. This ministry can also be made responsible for the development of the energy sector, he said.
In the 1990s, there was a Ministry of Agriculture and Food. In 1996, the Ministry of Water Resources was separate. In the 2000s, these two areas were united. From 2005 to 2009 there was the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Processing Industry. In 2009, its name was shortened to the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2010, the Cabinet of Ministers included the State Committee for Water Management and Land Reclamation. In 2011, the Ministry of Agriculture, Processing Industry and Land Reclamation happened again. In 2018, the word processing was replaced by food.
The Ministry of Culture has also undergone changes. Until 2008, it existed on its own, then information was added to it. In 2011, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was established. In recent years, it exists as the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Information.
The spheres of energy, subsoil use and industry are now united, now separated by officials. In the 1990s, a separate ministry was responsible for each area. In 2005 there was the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. In 2007, the Ministry of Energy and Fuel Resources appeared. A year later, the Ministry of Industry and Energy appeared. In 2009, the industry disappeared, but the status of the subsoil use was raised the Ministry of Natural Resources appeared. In 2010, on the contrary, the industry and mineral resources were united in one department, and the Ministry of Energy became separate. In 2015, the National Energy Holding appeared, which fully oversees the energy sector, and in 2018, all three areas were united into the State Committee for Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use.
And the effect will be?
It is well known that there is no perfect structure. Each new prime minister creates for himself, according to his own idea, what the cabinet should be. It is clear that Ulukbek Maripov did not have the opportunity to prepare in advance, and therefore it is not a problem to find grounds for criticizing any structure, noted Kulov.
Ravshan Jeenbekov believes that political reforms are necessary before carrying out structural reforms.
The reforms consist of several parts structural, political and cultural. We are doing only one part structural. For 30 years, the rest of the reforms have never passed, he said.
Until the authorities are ready to tolerate opposition, free media, peaceful meetings, there will be no sense.
HR consultant Gulnura Toralieva believes: The optimization process should be comprehensive, every detail matters. It is not always necessary to cut the entire staff, you can plan a large retraining program for employees and help them cope with new functions.
She advocates partly for the reduction and modification of the structure of government.
“I think that the decision to reduce the posts of deputy prime ministers was absolutely correct from the management point of view. According to the theory of transformation and optimization, the duplicate function is garbage and improper allocation of resources. Each ministry is capable of performing these functions, and the prime minister can be the coordinator, without unnecessary links with a bunch of advisers and assistants. Now the staff can be optimized. And good personnel can be strengthened not by the apparatus, but by the ministries themselves, she said.
It is also important to think about increasing the remuneration of the remaining strong personnel, so that civil servants really have motivation and less temptations.
Toralieva emphasized that it will also become easier to attract strong personnel. And now not the most competitive people work there, they are implemented in a different field.
And we suffer from the quality of management of not the best personnel or children of former officials and corrupt officials, the latter do not even need a salary, only a social lift and the opportunity to get to the trough, Toralieva said.
One of the authors of the structure, Sadyr Japarov, suggested that the Kyrgyz people once again be patient and get an effective system of public administration.
For 30 years it has happened so that if someone does not get a position, then they immediately create a ministry. They spend billions from the treasury, while not bringing any benefit to the people. As you can see from the table, we have reduced everything unnecessary, there are only 12 ministries left. The energy system alone will save 2 billion som. There will be a lot for small Kyrgyzstan and 12 ministries. But so far we have done so, the appeal says.
Reported by Asiais (Russia).
