Zahid: Umno worried more civil servants will be fired

PETALING JAYA: The Government’s move to end the contract of some 17,000 civil servants could be the start of an even bigger cut in the near future, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The former deputy prime minister, who is now acting Umno president, said the civil servants who were recently axed should not be made targets of a political agenda.

“Umno is worried that attempts by the Pakatan Harapan Government to give a wrong picture that the debts are higher than previously reported will be used as an excuse to fire even more civil servants in the near future,” he said.

On May 16, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said some 17,000 civil servants, who are political appointees, would be axed in a bid to reduce government spending.

Dr Mahathir had said there were too many contract officers, but low-wage employees such as drivers would be spared and that some would also be assigned to other roles.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng confirmed that Malaysia’s debt was now above RM1 trillion, much higher than the previous government’s figure.

Lim, however, assured that Malaysia’s economic fundamentals remained strong.

Dr Ahmad Zahid, in a statement yesterday, said the rakyat would not forget that the aim of DAP, a party in the Pakatan coalition, has long been to reduce the number of civil servants by several hundred thousand.

“It is not impossible that the thousands who were affected recently is just the beginning.”