The first two bills prepared by the new Greek government will aim to make communication between citizens and public administration easier and more digital, Minister of State Makis Voridis said in two television interviews on Tuesday and late Monday evening.
Speaking to Mega on Monday, Voridis said the government’s first bill would make changes and improve the functioning of the executive, while the second would deal with a code of administrative procedures.
“This is a complete, ready-made and very good bill. It is about how citizens communicate with the public administration. We are making it simpler, more digital and we include a lot of what the State Council said on these issues,” he said.
The same bill will change the system for selecting senior civil servants, he added, seeking to introduce more “meaningful evaluation criteria” instead of the former “predominance of formal criteria.”
Speaking to ANT1 on Tuesday morning about the duties entrusted to him by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Voridis said they included representing the prime minister in parliament and “unifying legislative work.”
And nothing has changed… They can open 1000 digital platforms, but all will be in vain if they are not managed by adequate staff. An excellent example is the platform of the Ministry of Migrants Affairs, which deals with the issuance of residence permits, where documents have been submitted electronically for more than 3 years. Nevertheless, obtaining a residence permit in Athens and Piraeus takes an average of one and a half years or more.
As in the days when documents were lost in boxes, so now, in the “digital” era, everything still depends on the desire of employees to work. And the desire, as practice shows, for some reason arises only after receiving plump envelopes with banknotes from “their” lawyers.
A few years ago, practically the entire department for foreigners in Athens (Τμήμα Αλλοδαπών Αθήνα) was arrested and fired. Criminal cases were also opened against some lawyers who brought bribes. Just a few months passed, and the system was revived. Since, apparently, the case was hushed up …
As reported by Athens News, over the past year and a half, the police have uncovered at least 3 groups involved in illegal extradition driving licenses. This was also written all Greek media. Isn’t it time for the police to check the above division as well?
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