Devolving the Costs of Government

A decision to make regional governments in Turkmenistan pay the expenses of delegates to the country’s top legislative body can only be bad news for public-sector workers whose wages are likely to be withheld to fund the exercise, NBCentralAsia analysts say.



The Halk Maslahaty or People’s Council, which is due to meet in the last ten days of October, counts as the country’s supreme institution, and consists of 2,500 delegates from around the country who gather in Ashgabat once or twice a year. It is supposed to represent a “fourth branch of authority” along with the executive, the regular parliament and the judiciary.



At the beginning of September, President Niazov issued orders for each of the delegates to the assembly to be given one million manats, around 200 US dollars. In a break with previous practice, the finance ministry has been told to fund the delegates’ travel, accommodation, food and other costs out of regional-level budgets, rather than charge them to central government.



“Other costs” are likely to include expensive gifts for those attending the Halk Maslahaty – previous events have seen carpets, watches and gold chains handed out to them as gifts.



NBCentralAsia commentators believe the decision to make the regions foot the bill will require state enterprises and organisations, as well as large private companies, to raise the money from local sources. To fulfill this instruction from above, managers will have to dip into funds set aside to pay their employees.



Even now, it is common for public sector workers not to receive their wages for several months at a time. Once again, they look likely to pay the real costs of an order from the president.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)