CUEPACS chairman Datuk Adnan Mat hit back at remarks made by a DAP member Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy who said Prime Minister (PM) Anwar Ibrahim has to ‘reform’ the civil service and cut down on its Malay dominance.Adnan replied to the attacks by Ramasamy, saying the recruitment and appointment of staff in the public service sector are done based on the merit and competence of candidates as set by the Public Service Commission (PSC).He said Cuepacs take seriously the issue of elected representatives attempting to politicise the public service sector when they accuse it of being dominated by a community.Today, Ramasamy claimed that certain publications had misquoted him on his Facebook posting which called for reform in the nation’s public service sector.The Penang deputy chief minister II said his proposal for reforms was in the spirit of bringing about meaningful changes to the practise of governance and was not tantamount to “breaking the monopoly of the Malays”.However, he faced severe backlash from PKR members and activists, who urged the DAP to handle the controversial figure and control his ‘rogue’ speeches.On the other hand, Adnan said the PSC has never stipulated that the recruitment of public service personnel must be done by race, ethnic or religious quotas.“On the contrary, most of those who join the public service depend on the individual’s own wishes, interests and inclinations.“The application is open to all races and religions. Without making an application through the PSC, how can an individual join the public service or be seen as interested in serving the country and the people,” he said in a statement today.Adnan added that Cuepacs was upset when the politician made an open statement without getting any accurate information from the Government about the real situation in the public service.Meanwhile, Deputy PM Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today that the views of Ramasamy on Malay dominance in the civil service should be ignored.“He (Ramasamy) is known as a loose cannon. We should not entertain (him).”Anwar has spoken out against the senior DAP leader’s call for the Government to “break the Malay domination” of the country’s civil service.The premier stated that Ramasamy’s remark was a personal opinion and did not represent his coalition or the administration.He later said the Government will not take into consideration the call for reforms to break the Malay domination in the civil service.Furthermore, he said this was because the Government did not view the matter as an issue and that Ramasamy was free to express his views. — Feb 12, 2023
