THE G25 grouping of prominent retired civil servants today urged Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa to resign for failing to protect the integrity of the civil service.

Recent revelations made by the new Pakatan Harapan administration of a civil service which was corrupt and unreliable reflected badly on Ali’s leadership, the group said in a statement today.

“We, therefore, call upon the KSN to take the honourable step of offering his resignation without any hesitation to save the civil service from further disgrace and bad publicity,” it said.

“His offer of resignation will allow the prime minister to make the right decision for the administration of the country.”

Ali’s resignation would help save the reputation of the entire civil service, adding that its concerns was the public losing respect for the civil service.

“We are sad that whereas previously the civil service was seen as the pillar of strength and stability for the administration, now some senior civil servants are seen as part of the problem facing the country.

“Although they are few in number and the majority of civil servants are professionally neutral in performing their duties, the bad apples have, nevertheless, done much damage to the whole public service.”

In a recent interview with CNN, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he had taken over a government where most of the top civil servants were deeply corrupted by the previous administration.

He then said there were currently very few officials whom could be trusted.

Once Ali steps down, his replacement would have to take on the task of restoring the reputation of the civil service, G25 said.

“Our civil service is recognised by international institutions, development economists and also investors as one of Malaysia’s greatest strengths.”

A new chief secretary could restore the good reputation of the civil service as the institution that can be relied upon to serve the government of the day faithfully, it said. – July 31, 2018