“Public service is, in general, thankless”

86

The national government made official on Friday the appointment of Mariano Antonio Salvador de los Heros Battini as the new executive director of the National Social Security Administration (Anses), and accepted the resignation of Osvaldo Giordano, effective February 15.

The acceptance of the resignation and the appointment of the new head of the Anses were made official in Decree 178/2024, published on Friday, February 23 in the Official Gazette, with the signature of the president Javier Milei and the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello.

The now former head of Anses made a statement through a thread on his official

“The first thing is to highlight the frustration of my separation. I was summoned for exclusively professional reasons. Personally, I was excited by the opportunity to replicate on a national scale the achievements we made in modernization in different areas of the Córdoba government. The only goal was to transform the management of one of the most relevant public organizations in Argentina. In no instance was my joining the Anses part of a political agreement, much less a condition for my partner in her role as Deputy. Pretending to do so implies underestimating their work, mine and that of the members of my team,” she said.

And he continued: “Anyway, even in discouraging experiences there are positive aspects. It is always enriching to learn about new dimensions of the State from the inside, with the complications and challenges that they entail. Verify directly that the bar in terms of public management is very low and that, therefore, there are many opportunities to save public resources and simultaneously improve the services provided by the State.”

He also stated that there is a “need to transform the organization and functioning of the public sector. In this sense, I think we are facing an unprecedented opportunity.”

“I don’t want to stop thanking you for the messages of support after my separation. The public service is, in general, thankless. Usually, errors are more visible than successes. Having encountered so many messages of support and recognition was comforting in one of the most complex moments of my professional life. To each of those who took this job, my sincere gratitude,” continued the man from Córdoba.

Then he wished Mariano de los Heros a great management and made “all collaboration available so that he can develop a successful administration of Anses.”

“For my part, the ending was so unexpected and abrupt that I had neither the time nor the serenity to think about the future. But I am sure that it will be by working to contribute towards a better functioning of the State, under the conviction that it is an essential step to get out of decadence,” he concluded.

Now that my resignation as head of the ANSES has been made official, I share some feelings about this brief but intense experience.

— Osvaldo Giordano (@GiordanoOsvaldo) February 25, 2024