Media statement by Tony Pua Kiam Wee in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 8^th December 2011:

The Prime Minister has the cheek to inflame racial sentiments among the Malays by accusing the opposition of wanting to trim the civil service

The Prime Minister had in his speech a Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) gathering 3 days ago accused and berated the opposition of wanting to "halve the civil service" which is majority Malay.

Firstly, there was never any proposal from Pakatan Rakyat to "halve the civil service". I had suggested in reply to questions from an audience in a forum that we could consider early optional retirement and the removal of those who had breached discipline and regulations, such as those who purchased RM1,940 binoculars for RM56,350. I had even emphasized that drastic measures were out of the question because we would need the cooperation of the civil service to govern effectively should Pakatan Rakyat take power in the next general elections.

But secondly and more importantly, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has proven himself to be a hypocrite of the highest degree when two days after his speech, the Public Service Department (JPA) under the Prime Minister's office announced 29,000 redundancies in the civil service.

Under the new civil service scheme "Saraan Baru Perkhidmatan Awam (SBPA)", not only did the Barisan Nasional government made redundant thousands of civil servants, JPA also announced that those who were assessed with 70 marks or less for their performance will be given warnings. And if their performance does not improve in 6 months, then they will be removed from the service automatically via an "exit policy".

The Director-General of JPA, Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah had also emphasized during the announcement that the new exit policy will affect all 1.4 million civil servants in the country.

The above civil service downsizing attempts by the BN administration is consistent with Najib's Government Transformation Programme (GTP) which said "the Government will move towards a new model of smaller government" (page 240). Similarly, Najib's cornerstone New Economic Model (NEM) Part II had called for a "reduced government role" which will involve "downsizing and re-focussing" (page 55).

Hence the above proved that the Prime Minister and his fellow UMNO leaders were just mere political opportunists in portraying Pakatan Rakyat as anti-civil service by inflaming racial sentiments using racist arguments.

It is UMNO who is culling the civil service today and yet they had the cheek to claim that Pakatan Rakyat and myself are racists. Dato' Seri Najib Razak has taken an extreme racial position in this matter, and together with other aspects of his speech which pits Malays against non-Malays, he is fighting to retain power at all costs, even if it means spreading vicious lies and even signing the death warrant for his 1Malaysia policy.

* Tony Pua Kiam Wee, DAP National Publicity Secretary & MP for Petaling Jaya Utara