Pan-blue and opposition legislators yesterday welcomed a proposal by Examination Yuan President John Kuan (關中) to establish an exit mechanism for incompetent public officials.
“Basically we are in favor of the Examination Yuan’s proposed amendment to the Civil Servants Evaluation Act (公務人員考績法), but we believe [the Examination Yuan] should also increase the number of public officials who could receive excellent year-end evaluations. We should give government officials more encouragement,” KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said.
Kuan announced on Monday that the Examination Yuan would model itself on the Singaporean government and get rid of public officials who perform poorly.
Under current regulations, public officials are rated on a scale of one to 100 each year. Only those who receive less than 60 points are fired.
However, the Civil Servants Evaluation Act also stipulates that only those found to have sown discord among colleagues, undermined discipline, or to have caused harm to the nation because of dereliction of duties might receive the poorest evaluation.
Kuan proposed on Monday getting rid of civil servants who scored between 60 and 70 points for two consecutive years.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) threw her support behind the proposition, saying more young people could pursue openings after incompetent officials were removed.
Lu said that the government should also establish a similar mechanism for incompetent prosecutors and judges.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) supported Kuan’s proposal, but said he was concerned Kuan would face resistance from the civil service.
He said that many public servants were lazy because they enjoyed life-long job security, but warned the exit mechanism for public servants might lead to factional or political struggles within government bureaus.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said the Examination Yuan wanted to promote an annuity system for public employees insurance that benefited public servants, but is opposed by non-public workers. The Examination Yuan wanted to package the two measures in one bill and decrease opposition to the annuity measure, she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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