A few days ago, the employees of the Ministry of Interior received their salaries without an increase, and these days the Ministry of Defense was paid with an increase, and the laws are practically the same. This is probably due to some internal departmental irregularities or lack of money in the budget, including the Ministry of Interior. The salaries increased by over 50% will be paid retroactively. Laws are laws. This was commented by the former Minister of Interior, Prof. Vesselin Vuchkov in the studio of "Denyat ON AIR".
According to him, some reforms must take place against these increased personnel costs by 1.3 billion leva. And the expectations for the new political leadership are to present such reforms that require political will.
"We should not pour in a huge amount of money without getting a change in the attitude of police officers and firefighters towards citizens", said Prof. Vuchkov.
According to him, there is a public need for reform in the services, which if explained in a reasoned manner to the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and to the citizens, could happen.
"We are waiting for a management program to be signed in the next 10 days or so. Let's understand the appointments in the second echelon, it will become clear whether all the desired reforms could happen. The new Interior Minister has the capacity to do it with his diplomatic experience", the lawyer is convinced.
On the air of Bulgaria ON AIR, he recalled that for a year and a half the Ministry of Interior has not had a professional leadership in the person of a Secretary General or Deputy Secretary General, and the appointment of such should be one of the first tasks of the new political leadership.
The work of the investigating police officers must be optimized
The law professor is convinced that it is best for each of the parties in the government to have its own deputy minister in each ministry.
"There is a lot of politicization in the security services. There is also politicization in the Ministry of Interior. This is a position that tempts with the enormous power that a minister and deputy minister have. The Ministry of Interior is full of vacant leadership positions, the rest receive pensions and salaries, or there are temporary employees, or those who sign "on behalf of ...", said Prof. Veselin Vuchkov.
According to him, in the 10 years since he was Minister of Interior, no meaningful reform has been carried out in the Ministry of Interior, only the staff has reached about 49,000 employees.
"It is time to fix the work of the investigating police officers. 97% of the investigations are conducted by investigating police officers, not by prosecutors,", Prof. Vuchkov also recalled.
As the only example of a successful reform, he pointed to the creation of the Legal Aid Bureau.
His call is for "the ruling majority to give new, fresh reformist blood, including to the Supreme Judicial Council" by the summer.