Anwar Can Win Over Civil Servants With Better Pay Pension Say Analysts

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In July, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that his government was looking to give civil servants a slight salary increase in Budget 2024 pending a comprehensive review due to be completed next year. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: Improved pay, better pension schemes and a more nuanced approach by Pakatan Harapan supporters will be key if Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is to win the trust of civil servants, analysts said.
On Sunday, former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) choice of former civil servants as election candidates reflected the substantial backing of the establishment for the opposition.
Shahril said the trend was evident from the voting patterns of the police force and military servicemen, and from PN’s success in winning the Putrajaya parliamentary seat from Barisan Nasional.
Ads by KioskedUniversiti Sains Malaysia lecturer Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid said although Anwar was working hard to win over that trust, the results may only show at the next general election.
“He can win over civil servants by proposing improved pension schemes and requesting pro-Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters to refrain from blaming bureaucrats for the nation’s economic problems,” Fauzi told FMT.
“To save on pension schemes, consider reducing politicians’ pensions rather than those of civil servants. Some politicians receive multiple pensions, while public servants usually rely on a single pension after their retirement,” he added.
Fauzi said Anwar has been hampered by remarks made by individuals such as DAP’s Tony Pua, who in 2016 claimed that the civil service was bloated and a financial burden to the country.
Such remarks have seen civil servants gravitate to PN, he added.
Then the party’s national publicity secretary, Pua went on to become an aide to former finance minister Lim Guan Eng when he held office.
Ads by KioskedSociopolitical analyst Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya agreed that salary and allowance adjustments would help endear Anwar to members of the civil service.
He also said allowing them to lead their respective sectors in government without political interference would boost the confidence of government officials and their support for Anwar’s administration.
In July, Anwar said the government was looking to give civil servants a slight salary increase in Budget 2024, expected to be tabled in Parliament next month.
He described it as a temporary measure until a comprehensive study of the salary and retirement scheme for civil servants is completed next year.
Meanwhile, Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said Anwar could try to attract civil servants by offering them more benefits.
However, he noted that Anwar’s “reformist image” did not endear his government to many in the civil service.
Ads by Kiosked“At the very least, it supposedly threatens their vested interests, and it also does not align with the conservative worldview of many of them,” he said. - FMT

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