Analysts, academicians split over auditor-general's political leaning

Political analysts are split over whether the newly-minted auditor-general Madinah Mohamad, should remain in the job since she was outed as a Kepong Umno member.

Some are saying that the top officer of the National Audit Department should be non-partisan while others opined that her political leaning should not be a problem, as long as the law and regulations, allow it.

"We have to look at what the General Orders for the public service, and laws, say about it. If the general order says the top officer can be a party member, why (are we) questioning her?" said Mohamed Mustafa Ishak of the National Professors Council (MPN).

There would only be an issue if the General Orders barred top officers from taking part in politics, he told Malaysiakini.

"Let's be objective on this. It would be unfair to her if you judge her before she even starts her duty," he said.

There is no basis in questioning her integrity now if there were no issues brought up against her in her previous stints as secretary-general of two ministries, he pointed out.

"Give her a chance to deliver, rather than painting (a negative) perception against her," he said.

Madinah's appointment has been brought into question in the past two weeks due to her lack of background in finance and accounting, as well as her Umno membership.

It was reported that Madinah's husband, Kepong Umno division chief Rizuan Abdul Hamid, had in 2015, pledged that he was willing to die for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, and that the latter, had later intervened to clear Rizuan in a bankruptcy case.

'Civil service biased'

Meanwhile, James Chin, director of Asian Institute, University of Tasmania, claimed the Malaysian civil service was known for its lack of neutrality.

"There has been no neutrality in the civil service since the 1970s, when Umno assumed total control of the bureaucracy," he said.

"If you want to move up in the Malaysian civil service, you have to be loyal to Umno, not the government of the day," he said, adding the civil service is known to be biased towards Umno.

"I don't think there is a problem with civil servants being members of political parties, a lot will depend on how active they are or if they are holding senior positions in the party," he added.

Meanwhile, Faisal Hazis, head of Asian Studies Centre of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, opined that the government needs to seriously consider replacing Madinah with another senior officer.

Even if she quits Umno, he said, Madinah would still be deemed as being aligned to the ruling party.

"The auditor-general is the government watchdog, As such, the public officer who holds this post should remain non-partisan. He or she should act independently and be seen as one," he said.

Faisal recalled the same issues arose when Mohamed Apandi Ali, who is also former Kelantan Umno treasurer, was appointed as attorney-general.

"We are seeing a recurrence of the same problem," he said.

'Must be non-partisan'

While defending civil servants' right to participate in politics, political analyst Tang Ah Chai said it would be better if the top government officer was non-partisan.

"The auditor-general who will deal with the accounts of the government agencies of the ruling party Umno, may court some doubt (against her) in the process.

"This would also impact the Audit Department, which has built its good reputation under the leadership of the former auditor-general (Ambrin Buang) through audit reports that revealed the leakages in government agencies," he said.

He called for the government to put in place, a system that could vet these top government official's appointment.- Mkini