Public consultation needed in gov’t restructuring to boost efficiency, says Coutinho

Next year’s Policy Address proposes restructuring the functional framework of government entities, with legislator José Pereira Coutinho criticizing the public sector for becoming overly expanded, fragmented and bureaucratic over the past 27 years due to successive government transitions, and asserting that the reorganization process should involve extensive public consultation.

Over the past two decades, chaos within the public sector has manifested in the arbitrary establishment and abolition of public entities, leading to increasingly sluggish processing, irresponsible decisions, redundant work, and the squandering of civil servants’ time and energy on “pointless tasks”, Coutinho noted in his pre-agenda statement at a Legislative Assembly session earlier this month.

He stressed that such circumstances generate administrative costs and societal losses, stating, “Citizens feel that their needs are not being met, and responses are not timely; community groups feel burdened by endless approvals and bureaucratic procedures, while businesses face unpredictable and time-wasting costs.”

The lawmaker stressed that the restructuring of the public sector must genuinely enhance service quality and efficiency while addressing public needs.

He advocated for a process that widely solicits public input, engages associations representing civil servants and affected employees, and ensures transparency and rigor. He asserted that “mergers must be grounded in sound rationale and guided by citizen needs.”

“Establishing, merging, or abolishing public departments should not involve dismantling departments only to reestablish them under new names, nor should it be about ‘tinkering with organizational charts,’” Coutinho stated. “Nor should it raise concerns about parachuting in individuals based on personal connections without considering their capabilities, experience, and qualifications.”