Your vote is secret, Muhyiddin tells civil servants

PETALING JAYA: Vote freely as your vote is secret, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has told civil servants.

The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president said civil servants should cast their votes wisely in the general election.

“Every vote is a secret. I say this because certain quarters are saying (to civil servants), ‘I know who you voted for, I know if you voted for another party’.

“The Election Commission has given its guarantee that your vote will be kept confidential, so no one will know who you voted for.

“Use your wisdom when making a choice,” Muhyiddin said at a press conference at the Pribumi headquarters here yesterday.

“Vote freely in line with the principles of democracy and the Federal Constitution.”

He said civil servants should not be pressured to vote for a particular political party.

“As citizens, their right to choose should not be curbed,” he said, adding that the civil service should be treated as an independent arm of the Government and any party that disrespected this did not deserve the support of civil servants.

He also said Pakatan Harapan would ensure that civil servants were well cared for should it succeed in wresting Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional.

“The civil service will be empowered in line with its position as the backbone of the country’s administration,” he said.

Under Pakatan rule, civil servants would still have access to the facilities and incentives they enjoy at present, he said.

“We want to increase the professionalism and efficiency of the civil service in line with the challenges of today’s world,” he said, adding that the Pakatan state governments of Penang and Selangor had managed the civil service well.

PKR central leadership council member Datuk Johari Abdul, who was at the press conference with Muhyiddin, said if it came to power, Pakatan would ensure that the country’s civil service remained independent under its rule.

“All civil servants are elected by their own commission, be it the police or military, so you are there to stay. Governments come and go, but you are there to stay.

“The independence of the civil service is what makes a country prosper,” Johari added.

On Pribumi’s plans in Sabah, Muhyiddin said it would not be contesting there or in Sarawak and that there would be no conflict between Pribumi and Parti Warisan Sabah.