‘Civil servants may be sacked’
PUTRAJAYA: The Public Service Department (PSD) will take disciplinary action, including termination of services and salary deductions, against civil servants who participate in either the Bersih 5 or Red Shirts rallies tomorrow.
Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said the penalty would vary, depending on the level of involvement in the illegal assemblies.
“Our action will depend on how much they are involved. If a civil servant serves as a ‘head’ in the rallies or is caught creating a stir or chaos, severe action will be meted out.
“We will have to gauge the seriousness,” he said after launching the Wives of Civil Servants and Women Civil Servants Association (Puspanita) fourth annual general meeting here yesterday.
Ali said police could act on the civil servants’ criminal wrongdoings, but the PSD will also take disciplinary action.
Asked how PSD planned to identify the civil servants involved, he said this would usually be done via pictures played up in the news or social media.
“If pictures of the civil servants are played up in the news, then we have no choice but to terminate their services. We have also received complaints (of civil servants being involved in past illegal rallies), but then again, complaints must come with valid proof.”
“However, we (PSD) had cautioned them,” he said.
Ali said civil servants should know that they were not allowed to join Chief Secretary to the Government greeting
in Putrajaya yesterday. Pic by Fariz Iswadi Ismail
rallies which were not approved by the police.
“This is our stand, as we have rules that must be adhered to,” he added.
In Siem Reap, Cambodia, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin advised youths not to participate in the rallies.
Bernama reported that he said there was a fear the rallies would turn violent.
“Youths should not get involved in demonstrations, not because (the government) wants to restrict freedom, but we have seen what had happened before, when (some participants) turned aggressive.
“Patrol cars were damaged and (some of the participants) attacked the police,” he said after visiting the
MyCorps international volunteer project site at Kampung Anlong Samnar.
Khairy, who was on a two-day working visit, said there were also “uncivil actions” by Bersih 4 participants.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the Bersih 5 rally said yesterday they had organised three teams to look into security, arrests and medical emergencies.
Stationed around Bangsar LRT, Masjid Negara and Dataran Merdeka, 1,400 security personnel will be clad in purple and will handle confrontations, violence and “general security incidents”, a statement from Bersih 2.0 said yesterday.