- In the postwar environment, the ability of the government or whatever has been imposed to resemble that of a government must aim to bring about a renaissance of governance, a rebirth of institutional strength and independence. The importance of public administration is underscored when it becomes virtually impossible for post-war economic recovery and governance to be achieved if core institutions either no longer function or are functioning with a clear impairment: instability. The challenges faced by post-war administrations is massive as this very administration must wrestle with dysfunctional institutional, a collapse of public administration and multiple hindrances to the implementation of economic and social policies, all of which hinder/impact their effectiveness and challenge the legitimacy of post-war administration. Throughout history, there have been attempts at mapping out a nation’s economic and political recovery via strong institutional reforms, however, most of these attempts have failed due to numerous reasons however one constant throughout the examination of the attempts of the past have been the effectiveness of reforms. Development economist, Harvey Simpson notes in his most recent research paper on economic development models that “post-war economic reconstruction is a catch-22 as every road seems to be leading to doom and destruction.” For the provisional government, the task is immense. Aside from juggling the issues related to the reformation of core institutions, they must also contend with bringing legitimacy to said institutions whilst attempting to maintain the public’s confidence. In recognition of this, it is important that in rebuilding these institutions, be they societal or macroeconomic, consensus must be drawn on major issues related to the future business of the nation. Addressing members of the media at an impromptu press conference at the provisional government’s headquarters, the Institutional Restructuring Committee (IRC) comprising of the Minister of Democratic and Constitutional Institution, the Minister of the Treasury and Finance, the Attorney-General, the Minister of Public Administration and the Minister of Economic Planning and Development, spoke on the numerous public administration reforms coming to Vorona as well as elaborated on the future macroeconomic environment to be expected in Vorona.
Speaking to rebuilding core institutions, Minister of Democratic and Constitutional Institutions Dr Jamie Kennion stated that the provisional government was currently engaged in encouraging ex-pats in Lourenne and Yingdala to return to govern over the numerous agencies they intend on rebuilding. Highlighting the case of staffing in government departments, Minister Kennion stated that the provisional government had been encouraging staff underneath the previous regime to maintain their positions whilst the transition is underway. “We need technical staff to execute our policies. We have come to a decision that we should keep existing staff and encourage persons who are unemployed in the interim to seek employment with the government based on their qualifications.” Numerous institutions such as the Judiciary, the education system and the healthcare system remain under considerable strain with staff shortages. For the Judiciary the situation is becoming increasingly pressing as trials pertaining to war crimes committed during the civil conflict are set to begin soon as bound by the peace agreement. Attorney-General Hector Cooper stated that the reconciliation process will have to be halted for the time being recognising that the nation does not maintain a Chief Justice and the Supreme Court has virtually collapsed. Institutions such as law enforcement and defence have been set aside to recognise the presence of the Lourennais peacekeeping force. Considerable assistance will have to be rendered onto a new law enforcement/police force for Vorona should the nation want to bring the Lourennais peacekeeping force to an end. Dr Kennion is expected to lead the charge as it pertains to the government’s reforms to the nation’s governance arrangement. According to Minister Kennion, Luthorian constitutional drafters have been hired by the provisional government as he highlighted that Vorona would be returning to the Fort William system. The reforms to come out of reorientation of Vorona’s legislative and legal system towards the Fort William model is expected to result in a complete overhaul of the nation’s judiciary, the public service and political administration.
Speaking to the re-establishment of fiscal institutions, Minister of the Treasury and Finance Dr Maya Cook and Minister of Economic Planning and Development Dr Simon Sitanggang stated that one of the first tasks of the provisional administration in establishing fiscal/macroeconomic stability was re-establishing a central bank for Vorona. With most economists having fled the nation, preliminary nominees for the position of Governor of the Monetary Authority of Vorona are mainly economists from Lourenne. Dr Jean-François Pierlot and Dr Marie-Claire Blanchet have been tapped for the position of Governor and Deputy Governor respectively. Minister Cook noted that a complete overhaul of the nation’s fiscal operations was underway. She explained that the laws on which much of Vorona’s future fiscal and monetary positions will be based are currently under reform. An omnibus legislative package is expected to go before the Provisional Assembly for debate mainly aimed at creating a strong foundation for the financial machinations of the future. With an eye on ensuring enhanced ease of doing business from the very start, Attorney-General Cooper (who is responsible for the drafting of legislation alongside the Legislative Drafting Committee), stated that technical assistance has been sourced from numerous nations on simplifying the nation’s tax and financial laws, noting that complexity has often led to difficulty in terms of implementation. With a clear lack of data to inform the provisional government’s future economic policy decisions, an independent statistics agency is in the works with a census set to begin soon via the Macroeconomics Division of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. When asked whether the provisional government intends on re-establishing a national taxation agency, Minister Cook stated that although a revenue collection agency had been on the cards, the provisional government was not focused on the development of such an institution in the interim, highlighting the relative societal situation. One of the recommendations coming from the incoming Governor and Deputy Governor of the Monetary Authority of Vorona is that the provisional government establish a revenue-collection agency with immediacy, stating that the capital which had not been lost to capital flight can be rallied to aid reconstruction.
On democratic institutions, Minister Kennion stated that elections (as per the peace treaty agreement) and the multi-party system as envisioned by the treaty’s drafters was not on the table. He explained that it would be remiss of the provisional government to call an election in the middle of what can only be described as the most difficult period for Voronan citizens. “I think that the peace treaty’s drafters were a bit optimistic on the speed at which recovery could take place or it was simply a matter of them not carrying about the process at all, but the current environment within Vorona is not conducive to stable elections. Although we need to maintain our credibility and win the confidence of the people, we don’t believe that it should be done via an election at this point in time. Once our institutions have been rebuilt and we are on a stable footing, then with Lourennais and international assistance we can propel the nation into a general election.” News media remains relatively tamed with little censorship coming from the provisional administration. Government House Press Secretary David Homely stated that the provisional government intends on remaining open to the media on the state of Vorona’s affairs and will not be afraid to confront false narratives and non-facts. As it pertains to corruption, Dr Kennion stated that the premise of corruption is plainly based on the effectiveness of the institutions to be rebuilt. He explained that should the administration fail to build resilient institutions, corruption will transplant transparency and good governance.