LOYALTY towards leaders and parties should end the moment they stop serving the country, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The prime minister, in his monthly address to civil servants, called on them to dutifully serve the new Pakatan Harapan administration even though they may be used to working for Barisan Nasional.

“If a leader and party work to bring the country to greater heights, we should be loyal to them. But the moment they stop serving the nation, and the leader starts spending time on other things, we should stop being loyal to them and put the nation first,” he said in Putrajaya today.

“As public servants, we cannot be obsessed with leaders to the point that we forget our duty to the country. We cannot forget the country.

“Loyalty to leaders cannot override our loyalty to the country,” said Dr Mahathir, repeating the message he has given to the civil service ever since the historic change of government last May, when PH ended 61 years of BN rule.

Two months into the PH administration, Dr Mahathir complained that the previous BN government led by the scandal-tainted Najib Razak had corrupted the civil service.

He had said some officers loyal to the Najib administration tried to sabotage initiatives by the new government.

Today, Dr Mahathir spoke again about such officers.

“This has never happened before in our history. The people voted in a new government after one party had ruled us for 61 years. After being comfortable working for that party, we are suddenly forced to work for a party that had been branded the government’s No. 1 enemy.”

He said civil servants’ loyalty to their “political master” should be temporary and conditional.

“We can give temporary loyalty to our leaders. If they serve the country, we should continue to be loyal to them. If we are loyal to certain parties, but then… the government changes, then, we should give our loyalty to the new government.

“But the country must always come first, not the leader. If the leader serves the country well, we should continue to be loyal to them. But if there is misappropriation, our loyalty must remain with the country.” – February 11, 2019.