Civil servants and new state-federal relations

For the first time Selangor, Perak and Kedah are won by non-component parties of the Barisan Nasional (BN) which has ruled the country for the past fifty years. Penang was captured by the Gerakan in 1969 but ruled only briefly before it became part of the BN. But the DAP-PKR-PAS coalition which won power in the state in the 12th general election is unlikely to share power with parties outside the group. Kelantan has been ruled by PAS for the past 18 years and Terengganu was briefly ruled by PAS in 1959 and for a term after the 1999 general election. Sabah too had been ruled by non-BN party or parties, sometimes as part of the coalition and sometimes outside the coalition. The fact is Penang (even if only briefly), Kelantan, Terengganu and Sabah have seen changes in their governments and their civil servants are quite adept at executing new policies introduced after a change of political masters. But for the civil servants of Selangor, Perak and Kedah it is a new experience. The BN had been entrenched there for so long that some civil servants, like those in the federal establishments, even began to think that that they were part of the political machinery of the coalition. It is important that civil servants in these states respond positively to the change since they are a fact of life, as seen elsewhere. The transition should be as brief as possible and with as minimal disruptions as possible because the rakyat has to be served. It is only the masters that have changed but as civil servants their work remains the same. If the new masters change existing policies to new ones or ask for projects to be cancelled in favour of new ones their response should only be "yes, minister" and act accordingly. And if they have not realised or have forgotten that their states are members of the Federation of Malaysia they will soon learn that within certain limits their states can act independently. They have got used to Malaysia acting like a unitary state because most of the time all the states are ruled by BN parties. And the states act as one because of political control effected through the state BN. But as a result of the general election five states are now ruled by non-BN parties and there is likelihood they are going to act more individually than they have been in the past.

The Sun : Updated: 10:35PM Tue, 11 Mar 2008