Dr Mahathir waves to acknowledge the crowd at the event. — Bernama photo
KOTA BHARU: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has criticised civil servants who do not accept democratic principles, thus refusing to accept the new government leadership.
Dr Mahathir said that such attitude was certainly improper as it could cause the nation to become backward for refusing to accept the principle.
“We understand because there had been 13 general elections and each time the government at the federal level did not change and this time, when there is a change, certainly there will be people who find it difficult to accept the new leadership.
“This is because the previous government had developed the attitude for them including working for a particular party and leader and not to work for the development of the country and not instilling a high democratic principle,” he said when speaking at the event ‘A Day With the Prime Minister and Heads of State/Federal Departments and Agencies’, here yesterday.
He said when such an attitude had been implanted in the people for so long, civil servants no longer worked for the government but for the party.
He said that when they had been bound in such a way, the civil servants gave higher loyalty to the party and when a new government was established, problems arose because some of the civil servants still tied themselves to the old party.
The prime minister said civil servants should follow the neutral policy and adopt democratic policies to achieve more effective national development.
“There are officers who are tied up and not willing to recognise the new government and this is not good for the future of the country although the government understands this,” he said.
As such, Dr Mahathir advised civil servants to be more professional in the interest of national development and not for the sake of certain groups.
On Kelantan, Dr Mahathir said the differences in politics did not mean that the state could not be developed together with the central government but should instead complement each other for this objective.
“Do not be too obsessive with the party and don’t be the reason for not being able to contribute to development. I am not wooing for support but I speak about the truth.
“Otherwise, there will be problems,” he added. — Bernama