Political parties are filling the administration, citizens are paying the price
Party-based employment is not a political incident, but one of the most expensive and dangerous mechanisms undermining the state. When party membership becomes more important than knowledge, experience, and the real needs of an institution, the public sector ceases to serve citizens and becomes an instrument of political patronage. The cost of such a practice is not paid by political parties, it is paid by citizens through higher expenditures, weaker institutions, and poorer public services. That is why party-based employment is not only an issue of political ethics, but also a question of economics, fiscal sustainability, and the survival of a professional state.
- Party-based employment seriously threatens the public sector because it undermines the fundamental principle that public administration must be a professional service for citizens, not a space for political patronage. The problem is not only that someone gets employed regardless of knowledge, experience, and the institution’s actual needs, but that this weakens the entire institutional system: qualified people become discouraged, the quality of decision-making declines, costs increase, and citizens lose trust that institutions operate equally for everyone - Dr. Jovan Rabrenović from the Institute of Economic Sciences told Portal ETV.
As he points out, this has been a long-standing problem in Montenegro and cannot be linked to just one government or one political party. The pattern becomes most visible after elections, when pressure is placed on public enterprises, municipalities, institutions, and state administration bodies to use employment as a mechanism of political influence. This does not mean that every new employment is problematic, because some institutions genuinely lack staff. What is problematic is employment not based on real need, public procedures, systematization, and a verifiable selection of the best candidate.
THE MOST EXPENSIVE FORM OF MISMANAGEMENT
- Economically speaking, this is one of the most expensive forms of poor management in the public sector. Every position that is not justified by an actual need creates not only a cost for public finances. It creates a long-term budget obligation: gross salary, contributions, allowances, equipment, office space, administrative support, training, and future employment-related rights. That is why party-based employment is not merely a matter of political culture, but also one of fiscal responsibility - Rabrenović warns.
The data show why this risk is serious. According to Montenegro’s Economic Reform Programme 2026–2028, gross wages within public spending are projected at €794.3 million in 2025, or 9.8% of GDP. Projections for the following years amount to €806 million in 2026, €820 million in 2027, and €832.1 million in 2028. When one expenditure category reaches that level, every new employment must be strictly justified by actual need, systematization, and measurable contribution to public services.
Rabrenović stresses that the International Monetary Fund also highlights the seriousness of these expenditures. In its 2025 report on Montenegro, the IMF stated that the wage bill in the period 2020–2024 averaged 11.4% of GDP and around 30% of total public spending, which is higher than in comparable countries in the region. The IMF further estimates that limiting wage bill growth to the inflation rate could generate savings of 0.9% of GDP compared to the baseline scenario by 2028. This does not mean that all salaries are problematic. On the contrary, the public sector must have qualified and adequately paid staff. The problem arises when money intended for wages is used to expand the administration without a clear need and without performance evaluation.
AN EXPENDITURE THAT STRIKES DEVELOPMENT
According to him, an additional indicator of fiscal pressure can be seen in the budget itself. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office’s overview of the proposed amendments to the 2025 Budget Law, gross wages and employer contributions in the revised budget are planned at €717.1 million, while expenditures under service contracts are projected at €16.8 million. Gross wages are a permanent expenditure, while service contracts represent annually planned expenditures that can be repeated if used as a substitute for regular workforce planning. If not strictly controlled, such expenditures increase pressure on current spending and may reduce room for capital projects, infrastructure maintenance, digitalization, education, healthcare, and other development needs.
LOCAL LEVEL, MAJOR FISCAL RISK
At the local level, the risk is especially visible. Institute Alternative announced that 22 local self-government units, through their staffing plans for 2025, expressed the need for 1,355 new employees, of whom 338 are planned under fixed-term contracts. This figure does not prove that every planned employment is politically motivated or unnecessary, but it shows why staffing plans must be publicly justified and fiscally verified. For illustration, if the number of 1,355 employees were multiplied by the average gross salary in Montenegro in June 2025 of €1,203, the annual gross wage bill would amount to around €19.6 million.
- That is not an estimate of the actual cost of those plans, because the specific salaries for each position are not known, but rather an indicative presentation of the fiscal burden of new engagements. The illustrative calculation shows the scale of potential costs. If, merely for illustration, the average gross salary in Montenegro in June 2025 of €1,203 is used, the monthly gross wage bill for 1,355 employees would amount to around €1.63 million, or about €19.56 million annually. This is only the basic gross wage calculation, without additional costs for premises, equipment, administration, training, official resources, and future entitlements - he states.
That is why, he adds, every new public sector position must have a clearly explained justification and budget coverage.
LARGER ADMINISTRATION, WEAKER SERVICE
- The greatest damage is not only the growth of costs, but weaker productivity. If hiring is based on political loyalty rather than knowledge and competencies, the public sector may become larger, but not more efficient. Citizens then pay more without receiving faster or better-quality services. This is the economically most dangerous aspect of the problem: growing expenditures without a corresponding increase in quality and productivity - Rabrenović assesses.
The European Commission stated in its Montenegro 2025 Report that the legal framework only partially ensures a professional, depoliticized, and merit-based civil service. Particular concerns were raised regarding the high number of acting appointments, employment through employee transfer agreements, especially from the private sector, service contracts, weaknesses in recruitment procedures, and the lack of accurate data on the number of employees by contract type. Without such data, there can be no serious control of either staffing or expenditures.
WITHOUT CONTROL, THERE IS NO DEPOLITICIZATION
- The solution to this chronic problem cannot be merely declarative depoliticization. What is needed are fully transparent recruitment competitions, publication of ranking lists and explanations for selections, a digital register of public sector employees, strict control of service contracts and temporary engagements, limitations on acting appointments, a stronger role for inspections and the State Audit Institution, as well as accountability of managers who hire outside the law, systematization, and the actual needs of institutions - Rabrenović said.
THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS NOT ELECTORAL SPOILS
Most importantly, the principle must be restored that the public sector is not electoral spoils.
- Employment must be based on knowledge, experience, institutional needs, and measurable results. As long as political loyalty is more important than a professional biography, public administration will not be sufficiently efficient, rational, or fair. And without a professional public administration, there can be no serious state, no European integration, and no quality services for citizens - Rabrenović concluded.