26.04.09

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had the list of gubernatorial performance evaluation criteria extended. The new 102 additions to the previous list show a clear anti-crisis bent. As of now, regional leaders will also be held responsible for people's employment, their salaries, and proliferation of small businesses in the regional economy. Approached for comments, experts said involvement of regional leaders in the anti-crisis campaign was a reasonable move. On the other hand, some experts recalled that the performance evaluation system introduced a couple of years ago never really worked. Whenever a governor was compelled to resign, the federal center made no references to the bleak socioeconomic shape of the respective region. Neither is encouragement practiced now that the crisis struck: keeping their seat is all governors may hope for, even the best efficient of them.

The list of criteria the government will use to evaluate gubernatorial efficiency includes 285 points now. New criteria were recently added to the ones already on the list and dealing with the regional GDP, investments, and other suchlike matters.  From now own, regional leaders will be also responsible for employment on their respective territories, for existence of small and medium businesses in the regional economy, and even for the cost of linking them to power lines and for redtape. With the crisis raging unchecked, the federal center needs subjects that are both healthy and loyal. The regional authorities are supposed to promote a healthy way of life and patriotic indoctrination.

All governors are supposed to submit their performance reports to the government. The reports must be made available to the Regional Development Ministry by April 1 (for verification). Whenever information on the performance report differs from the data available to the federal center, it is the latter that will be regarded as correct.

Experts said it was right and fair for the federal government to involve governors in the efforts to deal with the crisis and to share responsibility with them. "That there is no point expecting governors to work miracles in their regions goes without saying," Political Techniques Center Director General Aleksei Makarkin said. "Still, preventing a mass shutdown of small businesses and unemployment is quite within their powers. Come to think of it, it is their duty." According to Makarkin, when four governors were sacked inside of a day in February, it was a message to the remaining ones to remember how insecure their positions were. "It follows that the gubernatorial corps will take expectations of the federal center as direct orders now," Makarkin said.

Konstantin Simonov of the Political Situation Center also said that there was nothing wrong with involving governors skilled at shifting responsibility to the federal center in the antic- crisis efforts. He reminded, however, that the gubernatorial performance evaluation system established in 2007 never really worked. "Criteria of evaluation are one thing, governors are another," Simonov said. "Socioeconomic situation in the region doesn't matter because it is not for its shape that governors are sacked. Remember how the heads of the regions existing on federal subsidies only were threatened with external governance several years ago? It has never been introduced anywhere."

Simonov added that unless the federal center began firing incompetents and encouraging truly skilled regional leaders, United Russia's results in local elections would remain the only criterion of gubernatorial efficiency that really mattered.

Analysts warn that encouragement is going to be a problem, considering shortage of finances - security of their position as the regional leader will be all the carrot efficient governors will ever need.

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Source: RBK Daily