PUTRAJAYA: The government has deferred decision on the involvement of civil servants in politics, as well as the separation of functions between the public prosecutor and the attorney-general.
On the policy concerning the involvement of civil servants in politics, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said there were grey areas concerning this.
“Traditionally, teachers were allowed to participate in politics. Now we find that teachers do not get involved as much as business people.
“Now, we have to look at other people, and at what level should we cut them off.
“There is the view that people who do not really hold senior positions may be allowed to get involved in politics. Even then we have not reached a final decision on that,” he said at a press conference after chairing a Special Cabinet Committee Meeting on Anti-Corruption at his office here today.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman said under the previous government, many civil servants were involved in politics and had even campaigned for the ruling party and worn “political uniforms”.
This, Mahathir said, jeopardised the transparency of the country’s administration, as government servants would naturally be tied to the political party.
This would then lead them to be biased in the decisions they made, he said.
“We are still unable to decide if officers can be allowed to be involved in politics. Of course, if you are an officer appointed for the minister, you will be involved in politics because you are helping your minister and connecting with people.
“But there are also other officers allowed to be involved in politics, such as Kemas (Community Development Department) officers.
“Because we are still unable to fine-tune this, we cannot make a decision today. We will review the involvement of government officers in politics,” he said.
On the separation of powers of the public prosecutor and the attorney-general, Mahathir said this involved amendments to the Federal Constitution but that PH did not have the needed two-thirds majority to ensure the amendments could be passed in Parliament.
“A detailed study is still being carried out. A decision on the matter is therefore deferred,” he said.
The central role of the attorney-general is to be the chief legal adviser to the government of the day. The public prosecutor, on the other hand, acts as the principal prosecuting authority of the country, acting independently in criminal cases.
Several quarters have called for the separation of powers for the public prosecutor and the attorney-general so as to restore trust in the country’s judiciary. - FMT
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