We desperately need the power to dismiss civil servants in Malaysia too

Ministers plot end to Civil Service neutrality

Ministers could be given the power to dismiss their most senior civil servants and bring in US-style political appointees to drive through policy, as part of a radical shake-up of Whitehall to be considered by the Government.

Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, will examine proposals to:

* Force the most senior civil servants to tender their resignation when a new Government is elected. It would then be up to incoming ministers whether to reappoint them;

* Put permanent secretaries on fixed-term, results-based contracts from which they could be dismissed if they do not reach targets set by ministers;

* Dramatically extend the number of political appointees in the Civil Service. These could include all policy advisers and senior government press officers.

Critics fear such moves would erode the impartiality of the Civil Service, with officials forced to agree and promote ministerial plans regardless of their practicality or consequences. However, ministers in favour of reform counter that politicians are elected with a mandate to implement policy and should not be impeded by a permanent bureaucracy often resistant to change.

Mr Maude will today announce that he is commissioning research from outside Whitehall to look at civil service models in other countries, including the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Oliver Wright

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Chief Secretary’s appointment of Selangor State Secretary without consultation with Mentri Besar violation of both the spirit and letter of Selangor Constitution

The appointment of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the new Selangor State Secretary by the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan on behalf of the Public Service Commission, without consultation with the Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, violates both the spirit and letter of the Selangor Constitution.

It has been argued that there is no mention in the state constitution that the Mentri Besar must first be informed of the appointment nor that his consent was needed.

This is a flimsy and unacceptable argument, for going by this literal interpretation, Putrajaya should not have involved the Sultan in the appointment of the state secretary as there is equally no mention in the state constitution that the Sultan must first be informed of the appointment nor that any royal consent is needed.

What is pertinent is that constitutional conventions like meaningful consultation with the Mentri Besar and the Sultan on the appointment of the top state civil servant are carried out to uphold the integrity of the state constitution and to fulfill the mandate given by the people of Selangor when they voted for the government of their choice in the last general elections.

Although the Selangor State Constitution is silent on the role of the Mentri Besar on the appointment of the state secretary, just as it is silent on the role of the Sultan on the same matter, the Chief Secretary who has been delegated the constitutional task to make the appointment, should be mindful of the different political coalitions running the Federal and Selangor state governments and the importance of ensuring an appointee who could work as a bridge-builder or at least not seen as inimical to the Selangor state government interests vis-à-vis the Federal government.

This is where the constitutional convention of meaningful consultation with the Mentri Besar on the appointment of the state secretary should have been observed.

The healthy growth of Federal-state relations and parliamentary democracy at both the national and state levels would be greatly harmed if the spirit and letter of the constitution, as in having meaningful consultation with the Mentri Besar on the appointment of the state secretary, could be trampled upon and the state constitution misinterpreted to allow the Federal government to impose the most unpopular officer on the state government – against the manifest wishes and will of the State Executive Council, the majority of the elected Legislative Assembly members and the voters in the state.

Article 55 of the Selangor State Constitution on “Sultan to act on advice” provides that the Sultan shall act in accordance with the advice of the State Executive Council except for specific instances – and the appointment of the state secretary is not one of the exceptional cases where the Sultan may act in his discretion.

Both the spirit and letter of the Selangor Constitution are violated when the Mentri Besar is shut out from any meaningful consultation on the appointment of the state secretary.

Sidek should remedy this violation of the spirit and letter of the state constitution in the appointment of the Selangor state secretary by carrying out a meaningful consultation process with the Mentri Besar on the appointment of the new state secretary and spare the country and people a constitutional crisis.

Lim Kit Siang

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Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim today slammed the newly-minted Chief Secretary to the government Ali Hamsa after he reportedly uttered anti-opposition statements.

Ali’s statement was “in violation of the Federal Constitution, which says that civil servants should perform their duty without influence from any party”, Khalid said in a statement today.

In an interview published in the New Straits Times yesterday, Ali was asked to comment on the observation that some civil servants fell sway to the federal opposition’s promises, to which he reportedly replied:

“They should know better. Don’t be taken in by empty promises. As civil servants we must be loyal to the King and serve the government of the day.

“It is important that we know our role as civil servants and carry out our responsibilities well.”

‘Ali should be professional and non-partisan’

Khalid said that as the head of 1.4 million civil servants, Ali should be professional an non-partisan.

“If we were to take his stance, does it mean that civil servants can’t cooperate with state governments that do not share the political views of the federal government?

“Then there would be chaos in government administration and it is the rakyat who would lose,” he added.

Khalid advised Ali, who assumed office today, to be more careful in the future, “lest his statements be misconstrued as a sign of gratitude to the BN for his appointment as chief secretary.” – Mkini

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It is now or never in Malaysia to do something about our civil servants.