Civil servants should bring about change, revive the country

KUALA LUMPUR - The unity government will not reduce the number of civil servants to ensure that the operation of each agency can run without any problems.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the move was not the right course of action to revive the country's economy and attract outside investors.

“We want civil servants, ministries and agencies to continue to function.

“We don't want there to be a situation where the whole staffs are laid off. For me, that's not the answer. That just creates a new problem.

“What is important is the change in the service culture. That is what Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pointed out during a recent meeting with civil servants,” he told Sinar Harian in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Anwar called on civil servants to come together to bring about a change to save the country.

He said Malaysia's level of achievement in the past is now seen to be declining in terms of economics, discipline, lawlessness, malpractices and corruption related to the weaknesses of the leadership and civil servants.

The Lembah Pantai MP said the changes were important so that they could have a positive impact on the country and the people.

“We must be together in to bring about changes in departments, ministries and in the country so that the benefits can be experienced by the people.

“That's the most important message I understand from what Anwar relayed,” he explained.

Meanwhile, he also stressed that the government did not have any political grudge against any civil servants who were not in line with the coalition.

“We didn't go into Putrajaya to start a witch hunt, we didn't go in for revenge. That wasn't our intention.

“Our intention is to develop the country at a time when the value of the ringgit is falling, "Bursa Malaysia" is weak and declining, and investor sentiment is very negative.

“So that's our goal, showing that (the country has) political stability, respectable laws, uphold the constitutional promise and the rule of law, so this will give a positive sentiment to investors and that will enable our economy to prosper,” he said.

In the meantime, Fahmi said, the Prime Minister's assertion on the absence of approval or procurement of government projects without open tenders was one way to regulate leaks.

“We have to learn from what happened first. Bank Negara has stated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report estimates that more than RM40 billion to RM60 billion is lost annually due to leakages.

“So this element of leakages needs to be identified. I believe in all procurement or projects, tender is necessary.

“For me, that would be a more robust way of regulating but it needs to be more than that,” he added.