The building on Bankovaya Street, named earlier as Administration of President, underwent more changes for the last eight months, than for the whole history of existence. The edict concerning abolishing of Administration was among the first statutory acts of President Yushchenko. According to this document, Administration had been reformed into Secretariat of President. Yushchenko was assuring long and hard that this structure would function as President’s office only and would not interfere in affairs of governors and executive power. Despite the cut plenary powers and President’s promises, experts named Secretariat, along with NSDC, one more government.
After the last events President decided to set to Secretariat again.
First, the office of State Secretary has been modified. Secretary was proudly named Chairman of Secretariat of President. Oleg Rybachuk was given the honour of taking this post.
Besides, Victor Yushchenko has transferred some authorities of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to Secretariat of President, as reported by Yushchenko during his speech in the Parliament.
Yushchenko decreed that Secretariat of President is authorized to put forward proposals on candidatures for offices in law enforcement bodies and armed units, to introduce candidatures for offices of judges and members of Supreme Council of Justice, to coordinate proposals concerning candidatures for offices of Chairmen of law enforcement bodies of regions, Crimea, Kiev and Sevastopol, to coordinate decrees on awarding with the highest military ranks.
“All these issues are returned to Secretariat of President,” said Yushchenko.
Verkhovna Rada Speaker Vladimir Litvin considers this reformation needless. According to him, “it is needed to stop innovations and to organize work finally.”
At the same time Litvin said that Secretariat is subordinated to President, and only President can estimate it, as the society will estimate President’s deeds, not of Secretariat.
It is difficult for me to comment on these changes, as it is beyond the sphere of my interests. As a politician I consider these changes the attempt to order those forces, which President has at his disposal. President tries to appoint the reliable officials on the leading posts.
But I can not understand why President changed the name of the office. The essence did not change.
Andrey Ermolaev, Director of Social Research Center “Sofia”
Reorganizations of Secretariat of President and National Security and Defense Council witness to surrender of the presidential power in general. Yushchenko has started the political reform from himself and transferred the real power to a yet amorphous and unclear conglomerate of political forces, which will form Yekhanurov’s policy.
The decision looks like plenary powers concession, as the question is about decreasing of statuses of Secretariat and NSDC simultaneously – in fact it is a signal about decreasing of their administrative ability.
Disappearance of the predicate “State” from the name of the office witnesses to his technical figure.
Nickolay Kruglov, MP, faction “Regions of Ukraine”
Transference of some NSDC’s plenary powers back to Secretariat of President is needed of course. First of all, it will bring the structures’ functions to conformity with Constitution.
Providing this or that body with functions, which it can not perfume, we violate the Basic Law. Whatever is said, Administration of President, as well as NSDC, should not make decisions, they must help President. But during the period of Poroshenko’s office NSDC tried to become an independent body and mind its own business. From this point of view, the last changes are a plus for the state.
There is no such office as State Secretary in the Constitution of Ukraine. If there is no office, there are no duties and rights, as State Secretary is not an official, who represents separate branch of the power. But Chairman of Secretariat is a person who works under President; Secretariat is the body of President; President’s duties are written out in Constitution. In this connection change of the office name has been done in accordance with the Constitution and this name shows clearly the duties and functions of the head of Secretariat.
Dmitry Vidrin, political scientist, director of European institute of integration and development
These are simple bureaucratic games, connected with imitation of feverish activity. Such games exist in every country. When it is unclear what to do with social, economic and political situation, bureaucrats start to imitate activity inside their bureaucratic department.
It includes furniture rearrangement, staff transfer, move of nameplates etc. They say about it aloud, call press conferences; in short, they imitate feverish activity. Evidently, there are a lot of officials in President’s inner circle, who have nothing to do, and as a result they imitate the work. This imitation takes the form of names change, plenary powers transfer.
But the further development depends not on the imitation, but on goals put by, professionalism of officials. But I have never heard that officials of NSDC and Secretariat undergo trainings in normal educational institutions, for example in Harvard school of public administration. Nobody trains officials, nobody form new tasks, and as result everyone in engaged in nameplates move.
