One a traumatic experience with EFKA and the broader public administration that it had George Provopoulos served as the catalyst for a a scathing article against the government which «boasts about its constant «reforms»» and Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the EFKA.
The… tirade begins with the former governor of the Bank of Greece talking about a level of public administration that «has been chronically low» but notes that «In recent years, there has been a steady decline, as very little has been done to reverse this tragic situation.».
As Mr. Provopoulos states, «some successful initiatives, such as the Pierrakakis initiative, do not aim to reform or improve the quality of public administration, that is, its core, but in the bypassing the latter through "bypass" initiatives».
Referring to Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the his tenure at the Ministry of Administrative Reform emphasized that «During his tenure as minister, no significant initiative was undertaken that we could look back on as noteworthy.».
Prompted by a appointment through «1555» which was so heavily advertised and which, as it turned out, It was never closed Mr. Provopoulos states:
«I had a traumatic experience today—the kind that Greeks go through every day when they interact with the broader public administration. The standard of the country’s public administration, as we all know, has long been very low. However, in recent years we have observed a steady decline, as very little has been done to reverse this tragic situation.
Some successful initiatives, such as the Pierrakakis initiative, do not aim to reform or upgrade the level of public administration, that is, its core, but rather at bypassing it through “bypass”-style initiatives.
The prime minister served as Minister of Public Administration in the Samaras government, and I assume he is familiar with these issues. If I recall correctly, during his time as minister, no major initiative was undertaken that we could look back on as noteworthy. And after this brief introduction, I’ll move on to the ordeal I experienced today at the EFKA office in Marousi.
I had made an appointment there by phone through 1555 a few weeks ago for today at 12:00. So I went to the reception area and told the clerk that I had an appointment. The woman looked through her records but couldn’t find my name. She asked me, “How did you make the appointment?”;
I call her back via 1555. And what does she say? «But that call center isn’t working—they didn’t schedule an appointment for you» (first shock). And she goes on. This has been outsourced to a private company, and the girls answering the phone have no idea what’s going on. (Second shock). I suppose that when the “innovation” of 1555 was triumphantly announced, as is customary in Greek politics, there would have been a lot of fanfare, and the minister in charge would have been patting himself on the back on TV and social media for this amazing initiative. However, the receptionist urged me to schedule a new appointment—again through 1555—but on specific days and only in the afternoons.
I admit I didn’t understand why a system that generally doesn’t work does function for a few hours—albeit specific ones—each week. And I wondered: Has the Agency’s Director checked, as he should have, whether this 1555 Service—and by extension, the private company that is handsomely compensated for it— actually provides the service for which it is paid? (I note that these companies, while failing to adequately fulfill their contractual obligations, prove to be very active during election campaigns, offering their services free of charge to the political figures who have previously chosen them to serve specific needs within the public administration).
Here, I regret to add that the heads of the country’s public organizations are still consistently selected based on the usual partisan criteria, and many are objectively unqualified. The selection of executives through so-called headhunters, following pressure from the bailout agreements, generally works as follows: Before submitting a list of candidates for agency chairpersons to the government, the headhunters have already received clear guidance from the relevant minister regarding the individuals he or she favors. In the end, from the so-called shortlist, the minister selects one of them—whom he has, of course, already chosen himself. Of course, the headhunters themselves bear responsibility for this unthinkable Greek «innovation,» but why would they refuse to do an “easy” job, for which they are, after all, handsomely compensated?;
Personally, having wasted half a day without completing a task that could have been handled by email, I’ll waste more valuable time again soon, paying the price for the failure of a government that boasts about its constant «reforms,» some of which are completely misguided—such as the university police—which, instead of aiming to move public administration forward, it allows it to constantly lose ground, punishing Greek citizens with wasted time, time away from their other professional obligations, and a waste of money—because lost time translates into a loss of financial resources and growth.
It is precisely these unbelievable lapses in judgment that ultimately cause the unimaginable @train collisions resulting in massive loss of life, widespread fires, or the closure of national highways at the first sign of snow, etc.
All this misery we’ve been enduring for years, without protest, is not the mark of a European country but of a third-world country. Unless the public administration halts this dismal downward spiral, we will never see real, genuine, and sustainable growth.
And let’s not boast about our supposedly faster growth compared to other European countries, because we all know what it’s due to. It’s due to the abundant and inexpensive funds that the country will receive from the EU in the coming years. The country’s major problems are still here and desperately need a solution: the decline of public administration, the massive public debt—which has recently fallen to % of GDP due to high inflation—the extremely unfavorable demographic trends, the faltering functioning of critical institutions, including the judiciary; very low competitiveness; and equally low productivity—which, if improved, is the only factor that can lead to a sustainable rise in citizens’ standard of living, etc. Improvements in the standard of living are not achieved by the government urging businesses to raise wages, but through the continuous improvement of productivity—an area in which the government itself bears significant responsibility, because its policies are what can bring about a sustainable rise in productivity. Progress that we are not seeing, to the degree and extent required. We therefore rely on the EU’s vast resources, which, however, are temporary—and limited, if one considers the criteria (usually financial and nothing else) are used to allocate them.
I’m afraid I’ve become a bit tedious, since my personal struggles today have led me to generalize my remarks and put you through the same trouble, at least those of you who managed to read my entire comment. That’s why I thank you for sharing my anxieties.’.
