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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Tuesday) : The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi issued a  stern warning of “Do it or go!” to civil servants at the start of his nationwide tour in Perlis yesterday  to explain the 9MP to the rakyat.

Abdullah said the government would not tolerate those who undermined the plan and told civil servants:  “Facilitate and not frustrate!”   If government officers cannot deliver, they should take a rest – “In fact, they should take a permanent rest”.

Tough, no-nonsense talk by the Prime Minister. But because of his failure to deliver his many reform pledges and programmes in the past 30 months, the question that immediate comes to the  public mind is whether Abdullah will this time “walk the talk” to wield the axe against those who obstruct and frustrate his pledge of efficient, effective, accountable, transparent and incorruptible public service – whether the incompetent, the lazy, the wasteful,  the corrupt or those who disagree with the fundamental principle of accountable and transparent public service  - or whether all the fierce talk   will just remain “hot air”?

How many public officials had Abdullah removed in the past 30 months for frustrating his reform pledge and programme to head a clean, incorruptible, efficient, effective, accountable, transparent, fair and just administration?

Most important of all, is  Abdullah prepared to tell Tan Sri  Mohamad Bakri Omar  to resign as Inspector-General of Police  if the latter refuses to accept civilian authority and continues to spearhead opposition to the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)?

Bakri is guilty of an act of open insubordination  in leading the opposition against  the  IPCMC proposal when  the Prime Minister had made an open and public commitment to establish  the IPCMC, leaving to the Attorney-General to fine-tune the enabling statute and regulations to set up the IPCMC.

Where is the  credibility of the Prime Minister’s new  “no nonsense” approach when the IGP continues to enjoy immunity and impunity for his open insubordination against the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in spearheading the opposition against the IPCMC proposal?

When the nine non-Muslim Cabinet Ministers could be so publicly slapped down for their memorandum to the Prime Minister on the constitutional rights of non-Muslims in the wake of the M. Moorthy and Article 121(1A) controversies, what is the reason for the double standards when the IGP can get away scot-free when  is guilty of a very much more serious offence in his act of open insubordination in publicly opposing the IPCMC?

(11/04/2006)