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1. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government's reports, in particular its reply to the Committee's previous direct requests concerning the need to repeal certain provisions of Decree No. 14/87 of 20 May 1987 to approve the general conditions of service of public servants, which allowed for discrimination in public service employment on the basis of political opinion. It notes with satisfaction from the Government's most recent reports that the provisions in question (sections 41(2)(b), 74 and 79) of that Decree No. 14/87 were amended by Decree No. 47/95 of 17 October 1995, eliminating any requirements based on political opinion or "revolutionary participation" as a condition for employment. It also notes that Annex I, No. 11, of Decree No. 14/87 has been amended so as to suppress the references to "the Socialist Motherland" from the text as well as the requirement of "the revolutionary commitment" from the text of section 74.

2. The Committee also notes with interest, in relation to its previous direct requests which had observed that not all the grounds of discrimination laid down in Article 1, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention are expressly mentioned in article 66 of the 1990 Constitution (which does not expressly mention political opinion), the Government's clarification that section 3(1) of the 1985 General Labour Act contains the specific legislative prohibition on discrimination in employment based, among other things, on political opinion. Furthermore, the Government's reports point out that, in the state administration, criteria of political or revolutionary nature are no longer applicable for admission to posts or for promotion to managerial positions.

3. In a previous direct request, the Committee noted the Government's references to the economic difficulties which the country was undergoing and which hindered the collection of the information requested concerning, in particular, positive measures to promote equality of women in access to training and employment. The Committee suggested, in view of the establishment under Decree No. 7 of 9 March 1994 of a tripartite labour advisory commission, that the secretariat of the commission should be approached with a view to collecting this information. In this connection the Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government to the relevant ILO Multidisciplinary Team in August 1997, to the effect that the statistical gathering system in the country is in need of a thorough restructuring in order to be able to adjust to the realities of a market economy. The Committee recalls that labour statistics are an invaluable tool to monitor effectively the national policy in place to eliminate discrimination and improve employment equality in the labour market of any given society. It reminds the Government that the Office remains at its disposal, if requested, to provide technical assistance in the field of labour statistics or labour administration to help in compliance with the provisions of the Convention.