Mongolians protest against unfair and double standards, in which laws and regulations apply differently to the authorities and citizens. But unethical authorities, who cannot apologize for their illegal actions, continue to violate their own decisions. An example of this is the appointment of Chairwoman of the government agency, Communications and Information Technology Authority of Mongolia (CITA), B.Bolor-Erdene. She has served in the civil service for less than two years, but she was appointed as a ministry’s acting secretary in violation of the Law on Civil Service. The citizens are displeased with this.
During its irregular meeting last week, Cabinet appointed Chairman of the National Development Agency Kh.Batjargal as acting state secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development, while Chairwoman of CITA B.Bolor-Erdene was appointed to the Ministry of e-Development and Communications. In order tomake the appointments, CITA and the National Development Agency were dissolved.
B.Bolor-Erdene, who organized the Digital Nation 2021 event amid the peak of community COVID-19 outbreak in violation of the COVID-19 regime, was not held accountable at the time. However, thousands of citizens have been fined for violating the regime. It is unfair that this person, who should be held accountable, has been illegally appointed to a high government position, stripping away this opportunity from civil servants with much more experience and skills.
The prime minister’s press representative, Ch.Bolortuya, said on her social media account, “The structure of the two new ministries were approved at Cabinet’s irregular meeting on January 6. B.Bolor-Erdene has been temporarily appointed as acting secretary.”
Days before this announcement, the government declared to dismiss “prominent people who were appointed to the civil service without selection”. Yet, the authorities are doing the opposite of what they said. They are protecting themselves by taking advantage of the Law on Prevention, Combat, and Reduction of Social and Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 (COVID-19 Law).
Article 3.2 of the COVID-19 Law states, “With the exception of the Law on Presidential Election, Law on Parliamentary Election, and Law on Province, Capital City, Soum, and District Councils’ Elections, this law will regulate the organization of public events and the selection of officials.”
Last December, the law was re-extended until June 2022, and the authorities got a chance to appoint people close to them again. When Parliament reviewed the law at that time, the issue of removing the provision on temporary appointments was raised, but the authorities retained it in their own interest.
The Civil Service Council reported that more than 530 people have been illegally appointed under the law in the past. According to a survey of illegally appointed officials under the COVID-19 Law, about 1,100 people were directly appointed without selection. The study was conducted again on December 15, 2021 and found that 532 people with such appointments are still working. This includes secretaries of state, an important government position.
Currently, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health Ts.Erdembileg and State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture S.Oyunbileg have been appointed without a proper selection process. Therefore, in accordance with the Civil Service Council’s resolution, the state secretaries of five ministries and the heads of 17 agencies, who were appointed without selection, must be dismissed by February 1.
More specifically, on December 30, the Civil Service Council issued Resolution No. 411 on some measures to fill vacancies and dismiss civil servants appointed without selection under the COVID-19 Law. The resolution obligates government agencies and the Civil Service Council’s sub-councils to dismiss officials who do not meet the special requirements set out in the law and job descriptions and were appointed without selection by December 31, 2021. In addition, the employment contract concluded with these citizens shall be terminated, and no further contract shall be concluded or extended on this basis.
However, since the authorities have extended the COVID-19 Law for six more months, illegally-appointed heads of ministries and agencies appointed are likely to keep their positions. Lawyer S.Batbuyan expressed his view, “If the COVID-19 Law is repealed, there will be a need to appoint people through a proper selection process. The decision might be made in order to ensure the stability of high-ranking government officials and see the results of their work. I think the extension of the law was a political move.”
The Civil Service Council states, “Within the six-month period of the COVID-19 Law, we recommend that people be appointed through open selection.”
In the event of an urgent appointment, it will be announced to the public and made through an examination. In any case, the appointment of secretaries and heads of the government agencies without selection is made by a government decree, so the government must make the dismissal itself. If these officials are not dismissed by February 1, the Civil Service Council will submit a request to hold senior government officials accountable.
MERIT-BASED APPOINTMENT
The Law on Civil Service was amended in 2019. At the time, lawmakers “praised” the law, saying that it will clear out all issues related to appointments.
The law introduced a new provision on merit-based selection. In particular, it stipulates that the recruitment to civil service positions shall follow the merit-based selection principle as provided in Article 3.1.3 of the law in order to appoint the best candidate who meets the criteria. “Merit” refers to a set of qualifications, including knowledge, education, profession, specialization, skills, experiences and performance outcomes, used as the basis for making decisions on selection, appointment, resignation of candidates for public positions, as well as offering performance appraisal, promotion and rewards to civil servants.
Special civil service examinations are organized to create reserve recruits for public administration positions and recruit candidates for vacant core civil service positions. This examination includes tests, interviews and other tools of selection. It aims to test people’s teamwork, leadership, management, analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as spoken and written Mongolian language skills.
In the case of appointment for positions of chief officer categories (state secretary of ministries and other comparable positions), candidates are required to have worked at least 16 years in the public sector, of which at least eight years spent as an executive officer, and have attended and completed package qualifications training courses.
For positions of executive officer categories (directors of ministerial departments and divisions and other comparable positions), candidates should have at least 12 years of employment in the public sector, of which at least four years are served as a senior officer, and have attended and completed package qualifications training courses.
Candidates for senior officer positions (unit heads, senior experts and experts of ministries and other comparable positions) must have at least eight years of employment in the public sector, of which at least four years are served as an associate officer, and have attended and completed package qualifications training course.
In the case of civil servants who meet 50 percent of the special requirements of employment duration stated in Article 23.2 of the law, they may be promoted before the required date based on work performance results, qualifications level, ethics, knowledge, profession, specialization, experiences and skills.
The authorized institution or official responsible for the appointment must inform the public when vacancies open up for core civil service positions. The authorized institution or official responsible for appointment is to send the request for organizing open competitive selection to the civil service agency of the respective level within 21 days since the position became available.
In accordance with the law, a person to be appointed to the civil service must be selected based on very high criteria. However, provisions on appointment has not been implemented or the merit-based selection has been distorted.
When amending the law, legislators at the time boasted that they have created a legal basis for professionalism and sustainability. But it has not been implemented to date, creating a double standard. This may be a major factor in making the civil service vulnerable to corruption and bribery.
In accordance with the Law on Civil Service, the selection and appointment of civil servants must not be influenced, pressurized or coerced in any form by any third party. Any illegal actions related to the recruitment or appointment of civil servants, such as producing forged references, certificates and verifications related to recruitment, are strictly prohibited. In case a political appointee violates Article 31.2 and 32.2 of this law, it can become a basis for dismissing him or her. In other words, the law provides for maximum liability for dismissal in the event of an illegal appointment.
Although the Civil Service Council has made a decision to dismiss officials who have been selected in violation of the law, the authorities may not comply with it under the COVID-19 Law. Now it remains to be seen whether more than 530 people will be fired and justice be brought or such illegal appointments prevail.
