Cuepacs to Anwar: Honour Budget 2023 initiatives

KUALA LUMPUR: With the first important business being the passing of a mini-budget next month, the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has called for the new government to maintain all initiatives for civil servants announced in Budget 2023.

Its president Datuk Adnan Mat said the initiatives, announced by former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Aug 30, were what was promised to the civil servants.

“It is not appropriate for the initiatives to be withdrawn just because of a change of government. It must be implemented accordingly,” he added in a statement yesterday.

Adnan said the union did not want a repeat of what happened in 2018 when the premised initiatives were not fulfilled following a change of government in the 14th General Election.

The initiatives for civil servants, as announced in Budget 2023 that was tabled in Parliament on Oct 7, included a special RM100 addition to the annual salary increment from next January, RM700 special financial assistance for 2023 in January, RM350 financial assistance for retirees and RM600 special Aidilfitri assistance for March next year, Bernama reported.

On the disappointment of civil servants in 2018, Adnan said it should not have happened because as an employer, the government could not withdraw its initiatives after all the sacrifices civil servants made in carrying out their responsibilities as the country’s administrative machinery.

In 2018 before GE14, the Barisan Nasional government announced a salary increase equivalent to a year’s annual salary hike for all civil servants; the second timebased promotion was reduced to 10 years and the addition of Grade DG 56 for teachers, but they were not implemented following the change of the federal government.

Cuepacs expressed confidence that all MPS would support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the tabling of the minibudget on Dec 19.