Khmer Times, Opinion, 23 October 2023 (Link)
Samdech Prime Minister Hun Manet has recently launched various reform programmes that manifested his inclination for quality over quantity.
Indeed, regarding policies, he has tried to ensure the continuity of programmes under the previous administration. Nonetheless, he has introduced some painful public sector reforms focusing on streamlining the administration and quality of public domains.
Below are some specific examples.
In streamlining the public sector workforce, he has stopped the nominations of advisors or assistants with the equivalent rank of minister or secretary of state.
In past practice, some deputy directors, lawyers, Okhnas (tycoons), or deputy governors had additional positions as advisors/assistants to specific leaders. They even had a rank equivalent to a minister or secretary of state.
This system confused the chain of command or command hierarchy because governors are supposed to have lower rank than secretaries of state. Therefore, the governors could not give orders to their subordinates if the latter had an equivalent rank of secretaries of state.
Now Samdech Prime Minister Hun Manet has abolished this system, and those officials concerned have to choose either the position of advisor/assistant without equivalent rank or their original official portfolio.
This reform streamlines the chain of command within the administrative structure and helps streamline budget expenditure.