The appointment of Boonchob Sutthamanassawong, chief inspector-general at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE), to the top position at the Labour Ministry has raised eyebrows. Some observers believe that this appointment is another political manoeuvre to enable the Prayut Chan-o-cha government to maintain the upper hand in the next elections.
The questionable cross-agency transfer, which gained cabinet approval early this week, is quite rare, though possible in accordance with the civil service regulations. Mr Boonchob is no stranger to cross-agency transfers. His bureaucratic track record shows that he has hopped from agency to agency for years after moving from the Interior Ministry to the PM's Office in 2001 and subsequently the Forest Department where he rose to the position of permanent secretary in a few years, and after the 2014 coup he was named chief inspector general before being appointed top boss at the Labour Ministry.
The inter-agency transfers of senior civil officials, those in the C-10 and C-11 ranks, were introduced for the first time by the then Thaksin Shinawatra administration as part of bureaucratic reform. In launching the new transfer model, the administration cited the need for flexibility in human resources management. In principle, such transfers have to be made under the concept of putting the right man in the right job in order to maximise the civil service's efficiency. It's understood also that there must be an open competition for those wishing to take up such a crucial position. In practice, however, such transfers, which are decided solely by a minister with cabinet endorsement, can be contentious, with cases that show it could be made more like a reward in line with cronyism or a political bargaining, with little or zero regard to meritocracy.
During his two-term tenure, Thaksin made full use of the new regulations, handpicking the people he trusted for top positions, particularly at the Labour Ministry, in order to keep tight control of the bureaucratic system. The telecom-tycoon-cum-politician named at least three permanent secretaries for labour. One of them was Somchai Wongsawat, his brother in law, who was moved to labour after serving as permanent secretary for justice twice, bypassing all the hopefuls.
It's an open secret that the Labour Ministry, a major agency with an enormous budget for labourers, or eligible voters, can be an ideal place for politicians wishing to expand their political base. Over the past decades, the ministry was forced to open the door to "outsiders'' who gained access to the top position through political connections while incumbent candidates helplessly looked on and lost morale.
The need for flexibility in human resources management is indeed understandable. A transfer, if it adheres to the principles, will be of the great benefit to the bureaucratic system. Indeed, there must be a process to guarantee that the transfer of high-ranking officials is fair and transparent, with regard to the benefits of the state service, not the politicians.
At the very least there must be a system in which incumbent candidates, old hands who have performed with integrity, climbing up the bureaucratic ladder with accumulated experience, can compete openly with political appointees. It's vital that the competition is real, not just ceremonial, and all of it must be done with the utmost adherence to meritocracy.
