Preserving Chances of Successful Competition for ARMA Head: What Should the Commission Do?

November 29 – December 13, 2022, is the period for submission of documents for candidates for the position of the ARMA Head. The selection commission has published the Procedure for conducting the competition. TI Ukraine sees several risks in the imperfect approaches to this selection, which may lead to a non-optimistic result.

Thus, the criteria for the assessment of candidates are rather unspecific, and special checks regarding them will be carried out at the stage after testing for knowledge of the law. In addition, applicants will be forced to submit documents by mail and additionally report it online.

All in all, we can talk about the risks of choosing a dishonest or unprofessional applicant for a high-profile position. Members of the commission may have a room for manipulation, and lawyers may not be motivated to apply for a position.

To minimize this, commission members must specify the criteria for evaluating candidates: determine by what parameters business and moral qualities, educational and professional level will be assessed.

It is also important to complicate the tasks of evaluating special legislation, increase their practicality, and not publish them in advance.

The commission published the rules of its work and the procedure for holding the competition in advance. That’s a plus. However, the approaches were developed by the previous composition of the commission, and therefore there are risks that the number and quality of candidates will again be minimal. And this was the reason for the failure of the previous selection.

TI Ukraine believes that now, the commission is responsible for the professionalism and transparency of the competition. And it can eliminate the risks in the procedure for its conduct and contribute to a successful outcome: the election of a professional, honest, and independent leader.

Let us remind you that in September, the Cabinet of Ministers extended the competition to elect the head of the ARMA. The selection will, in fact, be carried out anew.

The Commission should hold a new competition in the prescribed manner in 3.5 months, that is, by mid-January.