Ministry to sidestep open appointments
The political leadership of the Finance Ministry is promoting the placement of senior officials in the ministry through procedures that certainly don’t stand out for their transparency or meritocracy, in an effort to contain the independence of the General Secretariat for Public Revenues and the tax collection mechanism.
The plan is being implemented via a decision issued by the caretaker general secretary for public revenues, Ioannis Bakas, while the appointment of a new general secretary has been delayed beyond the deadline set by law.
A decision signed by Bakas on January 11 announced the positions of general directors to be filled, although this could have waited until the appointment of a new general secretary. A few days later, on Monday, he issued another decision abolishing the process for the appointment of all general directors of central authorities, major tax offices and customs, monitoring centers and so on, deciding instead that their selection will be made by the general secretary for public revenues. Unless a general secretary is appointed in the next few days, all the new officials will be selected by the caretaker general secretary.
Bakas was appointed on the spot by Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis after Katerina Savvaidou was shown the door on October 23.
