Luanda – The former president of Cabo Verde, José Carlos Fonseca, stressed Friday in Luanda that a democratic Public Administration shoud be adjusted to meet the population´s concerns.
Jorge Carlos Fonseca was speaking in an International Conference on Public Policies and Local Governance, promoted by the Piedoso Foundation.
During his presentation based on the theme “The Constitutional State, its Foundations and Pillars” the university lecturer also said that the public administration must be capable to provide solutions and responses to the demands of various crises, whether the pandemic or the war in Ukraine.
The lecturer stressed that the speed and identification of problems should be one of the main principles of the democratic public administration.
“To be successful in public administrative work it is necessary to have little bureaucratization, as well as the creation of mechanisms to provide answers to citizens´ concerns”, stressed Jorge Carlos Fonseca.
Thus, the Democratic Rule of Law is a form of State in which popular sovereignty is fundamental. It is also marked by the separation of powers of the State, so that the legislative, executive and judicial branches do not function in disharmony and compromise popular sovereignty, explained the lecturer.
Jorge Carlos Fonseca revealed that the social democracy is a political ideology that supports the economic and social actions of the State to promote social justice within a capitalist system, and a policy involving welfare state, trade unions and economic regulation by promoting a more equitable distribution of income.
In this regard, the former president of Cabo Verde, highligted that in different field some fusion theorists contest such a dichotomy orthodoxy with the arguments that all administrative act is essentially political in which everything is mixed up in the process of design, implementation and evaluation of public policies.
Talking about Cabo Verde, the official said that, despite the economic vulnerability as a country, it has been achieving advances in several areas and democracy, political and institutional stability are the sectors that have deserved the most attention from the external partners and international bodies.
There are recognised advances that extend to several departments of the State Administration and the implementation of the integrated budget and financial management system. The availability of important computerised services, with benefits for users, are some of the innovations extended to tax procedures and public procurement, added the lecturer.
For him, the exchange of knowledge, based on shared experiences, will help to generate thoughts and strategies that can be used to develop policies that mitigate the effects of economic crises and make countries more resistant to external shocks.
However, he stressed that the search for ethics and efficiency in the organization and functioning of the public administration cannot be carried out at the expense or in collision with the Rule of Law and its basic principles, constitutional guarantees or the republican notion of objectivity.
Jorge Carlos Fonseca concluded that in order to find the balance point that will allow a permanent and adequate response to the community´s expectations, respecting the rules of the democratic rule of law, much debate is needed, in a serious environment of reflection, research and action.
