Clash over civil servants’ evaluation intensifies
Municipal officials in Halandri, Zografou, Nikaia, Larissa and Patra are facing possible legal action after refusing to cooperate with the conservative-led government in a civil servants’ evaluation scheme.
Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (photo) on Thursday passed on to Supreme Court prosecutor Efterpi Koutzamani reports by public administration inspectors on the five mayors who turned down the government’s request for data pertaining to the evaluation.
“We cannot selectively enforce the law. The inspectors did their best to come to an understanding with the inspected organizations, but some people seem to be refusing the obvious, which is the monitoring of law enforcement,” Mitsotakis said. “It’s now up to the judges,” he said.
Another 19 mayors, most of them affiliated with leftist opposition SYRIZA, have suggested they intend to boycott the checks.
Reacting to criticism from the opposition, the government on Thursday indicated it plans to review a controversial fixed 15 percent quota on civil servants due to be laid off as substandard.
“The quota should have no place in the evaluation scheme,” Mitsotakis’s deputy Evi Christofilopoulou said.
In a related development, the City of Athens on Thursday presented the results of an internal inspection to detect employees that have been hired on the basis of forged certificates. Mayor Giorgos Kaminis mentioned that 63 such workers have been detected, of whom 35 have already been fired.
