Learn from past mistakes
MORE important than simply being seen to be fulfilling the promises made in its election manifesto is for the Pakatan Harapan government to accomplish a leaner and cleaner administration, work closely with the rakyat to foster real unity, uphold the rule of law, protect and promote the people’s wellbeing and ensure a stable, growing economy that benefits all.
Pointing a finger at the previous administration seems to take as much, if not more, of the new government’s time and effort, however. If and where misdeeds have been committed against the nation and people, everyone of those responsible must be held answerable and face the consequences in accordance with due process.
After all, the voters who rejected the previous government were fully aware that all was not going right.
So, let’s move seriously and purposefully forward towards a better and brighter future for all.
To that end, first and foremost, there has to be the overriding priority of running the government professionally.
Having served for almost three decades with the United Nations programmes of assistance in organisational and institutional reform, I am aware that governments too often fail to make the right decisions as they set up their systems, structures and relationships from the first day in office.
There is a need to resist temptation to dismantle structures, terminate projects and move people, only to have them reinvented, reintroduced or replaced with others that in the end are costlier, less efficient, unproductive and fraught with the very same or worse deficiencies as their predecessors.
Crucial areas for reform must be objectively and systematically identified within each ministry, department and agency with proper political, economic and social scrutiny.
And there needs to be a critical mass of expertise and experience to initiate and execute that process. Relying on generalists or those who are politically or personally connected is a sure recipe for failure.
Secondly, it is incumbent upon the chief secretary to the government, as head of the civil service and the highest-ranking civil servant, to ensure that there is clear understanding, strong support, full commitment and the necessary wherewithal across all sectors and levels of the administration to implement the policies and programmes of the government.
There has been talk of a civil service “hostile” towards the new government and past reports of a “bloated and unsustainably costly” civil service that was disproportionately large as a ratio of the population or gross domestic product.
This is an opportune time, what- ever the facts are, to seriously address and redress those concerns.
It calls for the Cabinet and the civil service to “sing from the same page” as the prime minister, not necessarily as “yes” men and women but who, through intense internal consultation and feedback, reach consensus on the way forward to implement the government’s agenda in the best interests of the nation and its people.
As a corollary to working in unison and harmony, there is a need for the broad coalition of political parties forming the government to work cohesively (and not at cross purposes and certainly not through public pronouncements to score points) to fulfil with a sense of urgency and purpose the change that they pledged to the people who voted them to office.
New ministers and those appointed to assist them need to take the time for inductions and, if necessary, training in skills in line with today’s knowledge economy and technological advances.
Many of our new ministers have limited or lack the experience of working in, let alone leading, a major public department.
One would soon find out that simply saying “government must be run like a business” or “like a successful non-government organisation” would not work.
Ministers have to think implementation from the outset. While it’s vital to have a clear timetable to drive progress, as former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang recently advised the Pakatan government, it is vital to learn from the mistakes of the previous administration and not ignore audit reports if it is serious about transparency and accountability, ending leakages and graft, and optimally using budgets to meet in an efficient and timely manner the envisaged goals.
It’s in the ministers’ own interest and the institutions they lead to make sure strategies and structures, time lines and targets, and allocated resources and projected results are constantly challenged and reoriented, and not just by civil servants.
The people who need to make things happen on the ground, and indeed the public who are going to be affected, need to be an active part of helping the administration develop those very plans and deliver what will work strategically and successfully for their benefit.
None of this is particularly complex but equally it is not going to happen by itself.
These decisions need to be taken deliberately, promptly and be an ongoing exercise if the new government is to reinforce the people’s confidence in it and avoid stacking the deck against it from the start.