TI BiH presented research: Most citizens see corruption in public administration, reforms still at the very beginning

(Patria) - As many as 68.8% of BiH citizens do not trust the work of public administration employees, and most of them (82.9%) believe that budget funds are not spent properly. The lack of trust was also influenced by the fact that an increasing number of citizens see corruption in public administration, where almost four-fifths of respondents (78.6%) believe that jobs in this sector are obtained through “connections”. These are data from a public opinion survey across Bosnia and Herzegovina that Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) presented today at a conference titled “Two Decades of Public Administration Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina – (Un)learned Lessons”.

After 20 years of work on reforms, according to the assessment in the latest European Commission report, BiH is still in an early or initial phase, and the key reason is the lack of political will, which was also shown by the data on the effectiveness of implementing measures. A collection of works by experts in the field of public administration reform was also presented at the conference, and research has revealed that BiH is the worst in the region on this issue. Only 14% of the planned activities from the Action Plan have been fulfilled, and progress has been particularly lacking in terms of human resource management, transparency and accountability, and public administration rationalization. On the other hand, citizen perception shows that the expected improvement in public services has also failed to materialize.

“We must admit that we are still far from our goals, which should be focused on the needs of citizens and alignment with European standards. The quality of public services is at an absurdly low level, the digitalization process is at the very beginning, while a high level of corruption affects citizens’ trust,” stated Srđan Blagovčanin, Chairperson of the Steering Board of TI BiH.

This reform is one of the key ones for the continuation of the European integration process, as stated today by representatives of the EU and Sweden.

“Public administration reform is crucial for any modern society, it is closely linked to the rule of law and represents a key to the EU accession process. When this process began, significant steps were taken, but the process has stalled in recent years,” said the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to BiH Helena Lagerlöf.

“This is a topic that greatly affects the lives of citizens. This is one of the 14 key priorities that remain, and the EU has so far helped BiH with over 200 projects in this area. A lot has been done, but there is still a lot of work to be done for BiH to have a professional public administration,” said the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation Adebayo Babajide.

The Coordinator for Public Administration Reform in BiH, Dragan Ćuzulan, emphasized that important political decisions lie ahead for BiH if this process is to be accelerated.

“The European Commission is very rigorous when it comes to public administration reform, but you see that anti-European laws are still being passed here and there is no unified and clear political commitment. We have done our part at the technical level, political decisions follow, and that is key. We do not have the luxury of waiting when it comes to the EU’s requirements,” stated Ćuzulan.

The conference, organized by TI BiH and the Office of the Coordinator for Public Administration Reform with the support of Sweden, was an opportunity for intensive discussions and exchange of experiences on key aspects of public administration reform.