Najib urges civil service to help restore faith in govt

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday urged the civil service to help improve and restore the people’s faith in the government, as his administration faces public scrutiny over various issues.

He said this in his speech at the monthly gathering with civil servants in Putrajaya, where he also expressed confidence in his new deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was present.

“In the political aspect, I think the political transformation involves how we, as a government, can increase public confidence in us,” said Mr Najib. “Some call this ‘trust deficit’, so this is our duty — to restore and improve the people’s confidence in us.”

The second-term Prime Minister noted the government faces a challenging task in countering negative perceptions on social media.

“We are faced with the challenge of how to address social media, where different paradigms exist,” he said. “One of the challenges is where perception is always stronger than reality in politics.”

Mr Najib is currently under pressure by several civil societies and Dr Mahathir Mohamad to resign, following corruption allegations linked to federal funds allegedly being banked into his personal accounts.

In a report last month, the Wall Street Journal had, citing documents from Malaysian investigators currently scrutinising the accounts of state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), claimed thatUS$700 million (S$963 million) linked to the company was allegedly funnelled into Mr Najib’s accounts.

Mr Najib’s address to civil servants comes about a week since he reshuffled the Cabinet, dropping Mr Muhyiddin Yassin as Deputy Prime Minister and replacing him withMr Zahid, who is also Home Minister. He also replaced Mr Abdul Gani Patail as Attorney-General, naming Federal Court judge Mohamed Apandi Ali in his stead.

These changes took place amid ongoing investigations into 1MDB, raising concern that critics of the firm and those trying to uncover its alleged wrongdoing were being silenced.

Prior to his sacking, Mr Muhyiddin had openly questioned Mr Najib’s handling of 1MDB, which has racked up debts of RM42 billion (S$15 billion) in just six years. Mr Najib said it was a “difficult decision” to sack Mr Muhyiddin, but he had to do so to ensure the Cabinet operated as a collective unit.

Yesterday, he was quick to sing the praises of his new deputy, saying he had confidence in Mr Zahid’s spirit of “solidarity” when it came to working with other Cabinet members.

“I am confident and believe in his integrity to help me and other Cabinet members form a strong bond, with the spirit of camaraderie, to take on this heavy responsibility, and to fulfil the wishes and aspirations of the people,” said Mr Najib in his speech to the civil servants yesterday.

“I am confident and believe that if the Cabinet functions as a team, with help from other administrative staff and high-ranking officers, there will be no challenge that we cannot weather successfully,” he said. Agencies