“The civil service must respond to the government, while the government must respond to the public,”
by Terence Fernandez and Alyaa Alhadjri
(Source:TheSunDaily) PUTRAJAYA (May 17, 2011): Civil servants must remain apolitical and implement the policies of the government of the day, irrespective of their personal political leanings.
This includes those working in the four states led by PAS, DAP and PKR.
The country’s top civil servant Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan gave this reminder to the 1.4 million people in the civil service, stressing that their obligation is to the public and not political masters.
“A neutral civil service must implement policies made by the government of the day,” the chief secretary to the government said when met at his office here last Friday.
Asked if this included the states not run by the Barisan Nasional (BN), he said: “Of course!”
Mohd Sidek, whose term has been extended by another year, said “staying above politics” is his oft-repeated mantra.
He is also known for disciplining rogue senior members of the service.
He is understandably nervous as the volatile political situation and talk of the impending 13th general election may find the loyalties of many civil servants split, or the civil administration being dragged into games of political one-upmanship.
Mohd Sidek has found himself in the middle of federal-state disputes, the last being the appointment of the Selangor state secretary.
Here the dispute was between the choice of the BN-ruled federal government and the Selangor state administration run by the PKR, DAP and PAS.
Mohd Sidek said politics must never affect the discharging of their regular duties.
“A good civil service is one that is very responsive and able to meet demands from the government of the day.
“The civil service must respond to the government, while the government must respond to the public,” he added.
He said while both state and federal governments rely on the civil service to implement their respective policies, it is imperative for civil servants involved to discharge their duties in realising those policies.
One example, he said, is the six National Key Results Area (NKRA) where everyone should be concerned with the desired outcomes.
“The government used to operate in a silo, where each ministry focuses on its own agendas, but now it is no longer the case,” he said, adding that the positive outcomes of NKRA have been reflected in the numbers recorded under each area – for instance crime reduction and development of rural infrastructure.
Mohd Sidek said the introduction of NKRA and its cross-ministry approach have also opened up more possibilities for the government to be more innovative in achieving its desired results.
Likewise, he said similar initiatives at state level and federal-state cross initiatives must also earn the support of their respective public servants.
