Wrong to label govt staff at anti-GST rally traitors, says legal expert

Civil servants who participated in the protest rally against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Thursday were only exercising a legal right and cannot be sacked from employment, constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari (pic) said.

"What they did was outside working hours and they have every right to exercise their constitutional right," he said, citing the unanimous Court of Appeal ruling on April 26 which held that citizens were allowed to gather peacefully to express their views as prescribed under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

He was responding to a statement by Cuepacs president Azih Muda that government staff who were involved in the protest rally at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on May 1 could be considered traitors and did not deserve to be called civil servants.

Azih said public sector workers who gathered for the event had violated the 'Akujanji' or pledge of loyalty that they had taken.

"I have stated before that civil servants must not get involved in any gathering against the government as they had taken the oath ... so whether they like it or not, they must abide by the rules.

"If they are dissatisfied and wish to take part in such a gathering, they should leave the public sector," Bernama reported Azih saying, after the Civil Servants Workers Day celebration at Dewan Wawasan in Jitra, Kedah.

Aziz said the government could not sack civil servants under the disciplinary rules drawn up in 1993, as the rules are subject to the Constitution.

He said it was also wrong for the Cuepacs president to label government staff who took part in the anti GST rally as traitors.

"The Akujanji forced upon the civil servants by the Mahathir administration in 2000 was against the Constitution," he added.

He said under the Constitution, civil servants, who include the military and police, were only required to be loyal to the king and country.

"Public servants are not required to be loyal to the government of the day. They are only required to implement their policies so long as these are within the law," he said.

He said civil servants must be neutral and serve the people through the government of the day.

Aziz, a lecturer with Universiti Selangor, said the problem with the Akujanji pledge was that in the Pakatan Rakyet-controlled states, Barisan Nasional encouraged them to disobey the Pakatan administration.

He said this was evident in Penang, Selangor and Kelantan, as well as Kedah and Terengganu when they were administered by Pakatan.