Don’t carry out unlawful instructions, G25 warns civil servants

 

G25 warned civil servants that carrying out unlawful instructions of a superior was no defence under the law. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Civil servants must not execute directives by ministers that are against the law as they would also be held accountable for committing an offence, the G25 group said today after several recent court cases.

“Knowingly or recklessly carrying out unlawful instructions of a superior is no defence under the law,” said G25, a group of prominent retired civil servants.

The group said a ministry’s secretary-general and any subordinate officer could be charged under the Financial Procedure Act if procedures were not followed.

Personal assistants and secretaries were also “gatekeepers” at ministries, the group said.

Last month, the Federal Court was told that former prime minister Najib Razak had instructed a senior Treasury official to “expedite” a RM2 billion loan to SRC International in 2011 despite its lack of a track record.

G25 also called on the government to introduce immediate reforms for financial management of the finance and other ministries.

It backed the call by the think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs for the enactment of the proposed Government Procurement Act, which Putrajaya had promised since 2019.

“Such a law will improve the current procurement rules. These are much needed to address long-standing issues such as the rampant use of direct negotiations (in awarding government contracts).

It said the proposed law would help improve transparency in procurements.”

Government procurements should be done through the tender process with few exceptions as stipulated under the Financial Procedures Act.

There must be a very strong reason to justify the need for direct negotiation, it said.

G25 added that reasons for departing from competitive open bidding must be properly documented, to facilitate the audit department’s inspection and reporting to the Public Accounts Committee.

“The prime minister should note that direct negotiations will almost certainly lead to favouritism, nepotism and corruption involving not only ministers but also their wives, sons, and daughters,” G25 said.

To improve Malaysia’s investment climate, the group urged the government to demonstrate political courage by distancing itself from the business world and divesting the less strategic GLCs to the private sector.

“A government that distances itself from active involvement in commercial activities is less likely to attract the kind of suspicions that local and foreign investors have on the integrity of our Cabinet ministers.

“With less GLC involvement in the commercial sectors, the country will be a favourite choice as a business location for the best multinational corporations in the world,” G25 said. - FMT