ATHENS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Greek Parliament on Tuesday approved a bill to reorganize the government's actions and boost the modernization of the public administration.
The bill was approved by the ruling center-right New Democracy, while the leftist SYRIZA, the center-left Movement for Change, the nationalist Greek Solution and the MeRA25 party did not approve the bill.
"The government will be collective, but at the same time effective and fast," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, addressing the plenary, shortly before the vote.
According to Mitsotakis, the law would put an end to bureaucracy, to the long queues at the public services and would restore the trust of citizens.
"No citizen will be held hostage to bureaucracy," Mitsotakis said. "A fragmented government and an interlocking State do not allow the country to exit from the crisis."
Under the new legislation, the cabinet will meet on a regular basis to coordinate and facilitate the implementation of initiatives that will be designed based on a central government plan, while working committees will be set up to prepare items for the discussion agenda.
Mitsotakis outlined that the number of government general secretaries would be reduced from 93 to 58, saving 1.8 million euros (about 2 million U.S. dollars) a year. Also, the number of civil servants who transfer to prime ministerial offices would be reduced from 161 to 108, down by 12 percent.
Each ministry would have an executive general secretary who would not be politically appointed but would be selected through the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection.
To crack down on corruption in the public sector, the government would also establish a new National Transparency Authority.
By the end of the week, the Greek parliament is expected to decide on a third draft bill which contains several regulations, including those for abolishing asylum at universities and preventing deadlock in city and regional council decisions.
