KELANTAN has the highest number of “political appointees”, making up almost 20% of the total 17,000 civil servants hired by the previous government as a reward for loyalty or to be placed in strategic departments to act as political proxies, said sources.

Kelantan has 3,250 of these political appointees – the most from any state – as the Barisan Nasional coalition was hoping to capture the east coast state from the clutches of PAS. It, however, failed to do so.

“They wanted to have as many people close to the grassroots and do the bidding for them in the form of village chiefs and some other small posts scattered around the state, in the hopes that it would be enough to secure votes for BN but they failed,” sources close to the party told Malaysia Decides.

Not only did the pact fail to win Kelantan, BN also suffered a crushing defeat in the May 9 general election, losing control of federal power to Pakatan Harapan, led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The loss cost Najib Razak his seat as Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman.

Days after Dr Mahathir was appointed, he announced that the 17,000 contracts would be terminated to reduce government expenditure and wastage.

He also said that senior civil servants who were suspected of wrongdoing would be asked to go on leave pending investigations.

Amid concerns that the new government would be cutting down on the number of civil servants and terminating all contract staff, Dr Mahathir said his team would be reviewing other non-political staff before making any decision on termination.

In his maiden address to civil servants in Putrajaya yesterday, the 92-year-old prime minister urged them to focus on rebuilding the nation by abiding by the administrative system. – May 22, 2018.