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Mexico needs experts

Certain positions that should be assigned to experts and that require the selection of the best profiles

The Conacyt should be led by scientists and academics - Photo: File Photo/EFE, Conacyt
14/02/2019 |09:26
Redacción El Universal
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It's not surprising that in any country, the government is formed by people who are ideologically and politically alike . It's not uncommon to find officials who are close to the President in power in some of the highest positions.

Nevertheless, there are positions that should be assigned to experts and that require the selection of the best profiles, for example, the health, finance, and science ministries.

It's expected that experts are appointed to these important positions, as well as the rest of the positions. economist shouldn't work at the Health Undersecretary or doctors working at the Finance Undersecretary ...or a fashion designer working at the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) .

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On Tuesday, EL UNIVERSAL revealed that the person appointed to the Executive Office of the Intersecretariat Committee for Biosafety and Genetically Modified Organisms (Cibiogem ), as the Conacyt undersecretary , didn't have the required profile for that position.

This commission is the one in charge of “establishing policies in regards to the safety of biotechnology in relation to the use of genetically modified organisms .” The evidence that showed she lacked the professional and academic profile needed for that position pushed the Conacyt to withdraw the appointment.

Also, other cases revealed in the last days, in regards to inconsistencies in the declarations of assets of federal officials , show the importance of having a transparent government and legal obligations in regards to it so that the media , civil organizations , and society can learn who is working in the government.

These recent cases also raise questions. Do the officials act in a deceitful way, hoping no one is interested in going over public documents or that the polemic is ephemeral and after a few days no one talks about the issue? Were they just mistakes in their declaration of assets ? Or maybe the best experts in the country don't want to work ion the government because of the income ceiling imposed by the federal government ?

There could be many reasons, intentionally or not, but unfortunately, there is a perception that the government doesn't mind overstepping the law or faking information . This is a bad precedent .

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