Catalan president Pere Aragonès has made an authoritative move in the face of an embarrassing debacle. The chaos that reigned at this weekend's civil service entry examinations, known as oposicions, has led the Catalan government to dismiss the director general of the civil service administration in Catalonia, Marta Martorell, sources from the presidency department have confirmed to ElNacional.cat. The decision was communicated to Martorell on Monday due to the "serious incidents" and her replacement, Anna Maria Molina Cerrato, has already been appointed this Tuesday. On Saturday, a total of 13,581 people were called to sit examinations in a simultaneous macro call managed by the company Cegos, to whom the executive had contracted the holding of the tests, which are intended to stabilize employment in the public service where many current staff are employed on a temporary basis. After the barrage of criticism received, the Generalitat dismissed Martorell. At the same time, it set up an address to receive all information about the problems that occurred, which will be open until this Friday. Then "decisions" will be made, according to spokeswoman Patrícia Plaja.
It was the largest-ever entry examination for positions in the Catalan civil service, with 72 different exams at the same time, and it ended up being a chaotic day. Delays, overcrowding in classrooms, a lack of desks and misinformation were just some of the situations that plagued the thousands of aspirants who took these tests in order to get a civil servant position. "We feel humiliated and abused. They treated us with disrespect, through the delays, the rude responses to every question we asked to find out what was going on", reported an aspirant through social media.
This examination session was also the first time that the Catalan government had subcontracted a company, Cegos, to organize the process. The government gave an initial apology on Saturday, straight after the chaos, indicating the company's possible responsibility for the organizational disaster. For that reason, the executive opened a mailing address at which all the incidents suffered by the 13,581 workers of the Generalitat who took the tests will be collected. After this investigation, it will be decided which exams will have to be repeated. The government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, stressed that "it will be necessary to study the incidents individually and thoroughly", in order to "evaluate objectively and make decisions". They did not give any further information about the possible repeat exams so as not to fall into "speculation".
Apologies, and blaming of the company
In the press conference following the Catalan cabinet's weekly meeting, Patrícia Plaja reiterated her apologies, assumed part of the responsibility and announced the replacement at the head of the Civil Service administration, while also launching the digital mailbox to collect information on all the problems until Friday. The "check" that should have been done by the administration was not carried out, she said. Plaja also announced that the minister of the presidency, Laura Vilagrà, will appear in Parliament at her own request to give explanations, but without specifying when. What Plaja did rule out is the resignation or dismissal of the head of the presidency department, the Catalan ministry responsible for the civil service administration. Meanwhile, the government has also requested a report from its legal services "so that the awarded company assumes the consequences of the incidents".
Nor did she sign the tender
Marta Martorell has been sacked as director general of the Catalan civil service administration when she had only been in the position for four months. In fact, she did not even sign the tender for this macro-examination process. However, on this aspect, the government spokesperson gave a justification: "The problem is not that a company was hired, but that the service was not provided and checks were not carried out on the state in which this company arrived". Plaja did not put in question the original decision to outsource the holding of the exams.
Opponents go on the offensive
Given the current atmosphere of electoral pre-campaign, the opposition parties did not waste the opportunity presented by this government blunder. Both the PSC and Junts demanded the appearance in Parliament of the minister of the presidency, Laura Vilagrà. PSC leader and head of the opposition, Salvador Illa, put his finger on the sensitive spot: "A government that does not know how to organize civil service examinations is not the best suited to run a country." Barcelona mayor Ada Colau did the same, asserting the virtues of the Barcelona city council's management in contrast with that displayed by the Generalitat: "We hold oposicions and we haven't had any problems".