Katainen wants to take appointments of top civil servants out of President´s hands

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Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen (Nat. Coalition Party), who is serving as the substitute for the Prime Minister while PM Matti Vanhanen (Centre) is in China, said on Friday that the appointment of chiefs of staff of government ministries should be the task of the government.
     Katainen made his comment on Friday a few hours after President Tarja Halonen had rejected a unanimous government proposal to name Ilkka Laitinen as the new Chief of Staff of the Ministry of the Interior.
     President Halonen wants to appoint the current holder of the post, Ritva Viljanen for another five-year term.
     
Katainen indicated that the President’s right to appoint chiefs of staff should be eliminated.
     He emphasised that he was simply repeating previous statements, and did not want to link it with the present dispute.
     He also said that he was talking about the authority of the “next president” to make appointments. Under the present constitution, Katainen noted that the President has the right to decide.
     “Minister of the Interior Anne Holmlund (Nat. Coalition Party) is responsible for the results of the work of the ministry. Ministers must have the possibility to appoint the kinds of people they trust to the posts. Responsibility for decisions, and for the results should be in the same place”, Katainen explained.
     Katainen also emphasised that posts that are open for applications need to be “genuinely open”. In his view the impression must not be given that civil servants in office would have an advantage in the application process; genuine competition is needed in his view.
     
Interior Minister Holmlund plans to put Laitinen forward again for the post on Thursday, and said that President Halonen would be presented with the proposal on Friday.
      “I assume that the President was left with an awareness of my view, although the matter was not discussed.
     Holmlund feels that Laitinen is the right choice, because the Ministry of the Interior is currently responsible for internal security and immigration issues.
      Holmlund feels that Laitinen has demonstrated his professional skills and leadership abilities while working as head of FRONTEX, the border security authority of the European Union.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  President stands ground on Interior Ministry appointment (8.8.2008)
  President and government at odds over appointment of ministry official (7.8.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat