It is good to see that the code of ethics adopted by the Government for top officials in the executive realm is not just a statement of goodwill. It is also good that an issue raised by the media has been taken seriously by a ministry and has led to consequences for a certain cabinet official.

Although deputy health minister Matei Mateev choose a reason other than the code for his resignation, the clear statement of Health Minister Evgenii Zhelev indicating the opposite said it all.

This could be the first time that a Cabinet minister has directly accused one of his subordinates of breaking the code. The minister should only be praised for this. What the minister might be challenged about is that Mateev’s resignation came after the media revealed that Mateev’s mother and son had shares in two medical centres. These centres also received money from one of the hospitals performing, as it turned out, stem cells transplants without the required authorisation and approved method.

The only mitigating factor in Zhelev’s defence is that he took the post of minister this spring. So probably it took him some time to check the files of his deputies, inherited from his predecessor Radoslav Gaidarski.

And here comes the big issue with the way public posts are currently distributed in Bulgaria. Each of the three ruling parties in the country demand to have a representative in all of the top power’s key positions. This, on a Cabinet minister level, means that each minister has at least three deputies, even if he does not need them. Furthermore, the deputies are appointed after the three parties have met and discussed them. In most cases this deprives the cabinet minister of the freedom to form his own team. This, some might say, might actually be a good way to keep cabinet ministers from surrounding themselves with people unsuitable for the job.

However, from what we have witnessed hitherto, the quota system has not stopped the three ruling parties from doing exactly that. So there must be no doubt that the resignation of Mateev, who according to Zhelev’s own words, was twice asked to step down, has been carefully co-ordinated between the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, because Zhelev is a member of the former and Mateev was appointed from the quota of the latter.

There was a ray of hope in the past few months when Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said that the quota system was not to his taste. There was even a plan announced to decrease the number of government officials, but little was done in that respect.

The fact that the code of ethics does not lead to any legal consequences for the person who has violated it is another issue entirely. Currently, all that can happen to an official caught breaking the code’s standards is public disgrace as a result of dismissal. This has proven to have little effect on the behaviour of the officials in question. Mateev’s stand on the issue is a good example. According to him, the fact that his mother and son were shareholders in the two companies receiving money from a state hospital for stem cells transplants was not worth reporting to the minister because it was not a conflict of interest.

There is nothing wrong with people working in their chosen field, but when one occupies a public position that directly affects the business of one’s relatives, a note to your superior should be the minimum courtesy. Fortunately, in this case it was the media that sent the note and it was good to see that it has found its recipient.