Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 153: Chapter 133: Rectifying the Bureaucracy (Double-Length Chapter)_3

“I admit you’re quite right.” Prime Minister Prim nodded lightly in the face of doubts, then questioned, “But why not?

Instead of letting those who do nothing continue to hold high positions in the districts and city governments, why not let capable and motivated young people take on such roles?

Or are you willing to sacrifice Spain’s future development for the sake of your position?”

Prime Minister Prim’s questioning immediately made the opposing parliamentarian break into a cold sweat, waving his hands repeatedly, hurriedly explaining, “I am not willing to give up Spain’s future development, just worried that this policy will impact the existing bureaucratic system and disrupt the hard-earned stability of Spain.”

“There’s no need to worry about this.” Prime Minister Prim said with a playful smile, meaningfully adding, “This legislation is imperative for Spain’s reform and is crucial to the success of these reforms.

Gentlemen, are you willing to see important positions in the districts and city governments occupied by those who don’t wish to contribute to the country?

For Spain, we are willing to endure any pain. Only by putting those truly committed to Spain’s revival into important positions can revival become a reality rather than just a dream.

The turmoil caused by the policy is temporary, but its impact on Spain will be long-lasting. To ensure a stronger future for Spain, I believe we can endure temporary pain for the opportunity to make Spain stronger.”

After Prime Minister Prim’s persuasion, the reform faction parliamentarians expressed their support for the bill.

After all, most of the reform faction are young people with ideals, ambitions, and certain abilities. Their political discourse power is not high, and this bill not only will not affect them but will also become their tool for political advancement.

In fact, seniority is common in the bureaucratic systems of various countries, as people tend to trust more mature-looking officials over an inexperienced young enthusiast.

For other jobs, individuals in their twenties or thirties are quite motivated. But for governmental work, even those in their thirties or forties are considered too young, with the prime age for politicians being in their forties or fifties.

Typically, prime ministers are in their fifties or even sixties, which earns the trust of the government officials and the public.

While in the positions of prime minister and key government departments, the harm of seniority is not that significant, it is quite detrimental in the districts and city governments.

Older officials don’t move, allowing no room for the young generation. Currently, in Spain’s districts and municipalities, only a small portion of officials are under 30, with most being middle-aged.

Many of them are conservatives who, despite outwardly having no major opposition to the Spanish Government’s reform decrees, use various means to covertly obstruct their implementation.

The problem of policy implementation is Spain’s biggest issue at the moment. Decrees issued by the Kingdom Government are difficult to implement smoothly and quickly across district governments.

The solution is simple: replace these stubborn conservative officials with younger ones who support reform.

These promoted young officials will also be more inclined to support the reforms, in order to secure their positions and advance further, naturally promoting Spain’s reforms more effectively.

Reform in any country is incredibly challenging because it requires confronting internal vested interests and some stubborn conservative factions.

No matter their loyalty to the Kingdom Government, as long as they hinder Spain’s reforms, the issue must eventually be addressed.

“Prime Minister, I do not oppose this decree’s implementation. But I have a question, if we adopt a performance-priority system for appointing and removing officials, won’t it lead some officials to pursue their own performance to extremes?

Also, how can we ensure the loyalty of those officials promoted based on performance to the government? If they are not loyal to the government, their promotion could harm the country.” Another official raised the question, though more mildly than the direct opposition of the previous one.

“That’s simple.” Prime Minister Prim nodded, offering his response, “Parliament can take full charge of the performance assessments and establish appropriate institutions for evaluating officials’ performance.

Forgery in performance records will be strictly abolished, with the worst outcomes given in assessments. We require real achievements that can enhance Spanish livelihoods and economic and industrial development, not officials’ fake accomplishments.

Moreover, the requirement for political thought can be added to the official evaluations. All officials in Spain must be those who love this country; I don’t hope to see those with no affection for the country in high government positions.

Political thought assessments can also be established to ensure our officials combine excellent abilities with loyal ideas.”

This is something Prime Minister Prim had considered long ago. Although personal ability is quite important in the new performance evaluation system, it doesn’t mean disregarding the officials’ personal morals and ideological evaluations.

An official with exceptional abilities but faulty ideas can be detrimental to the country.

Erroneous thoughts can lead to corruption and embezzlement in the mild case, and betrayal of the country and government in the severe case, either choice causing significant harm to Spain.

Prime Minister Prim would never want his performance evaluation system to select officials who fall back into the spiral of corruption, or worse, directly betray the country and government.