The five greenhorn ministers who accepted honorary titles from Melaka show their amateurish thinking, says Kadir Jasin.
PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan leaders – including Cabinet members – are sabotaging their own government due to ignorance, greed and lack of focus, says veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.
He said the danger of the new government being sabotaged could not be denied, with the threat coming from two main sources: Pakatan leaders and civil servants and GLC/GLIC executives.
Kadir suggested that Pakatan enforce a ruling to prevent Federal Ministers and state government ministers from receiving honorific titles while still in service.
“I have touched about this indirectly in my previous writing about five greenhorn ministers who have received titles from Melaka.
“This is a sign of their amateurish thinking,” he said in his blog posting.
Kadir added that it would be better if all the MPs and assemblymen were also prevented from receiving these titles.
He said Pakatan ministers, chief ministers, Mentris Besar and all Pakatan MPs had to be schooled before it was too late and people lost confidence in them.
“I’m sure ministers will benefit from this as it would change their mindset from being an opposition to government, from talking to working, and from empty talk to actually doing something.
“Remember, if on May 9 the people can overthrow the Barisan Nasional government which had been in power for 61 years, what is so great about Pakatan which is still less than a year old?” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Kadir also proposed that anti-corruption bodies monitor senior government officers and executives of GLCs and GLICs who may potentially sabotage the government.
He said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) should have those people on their radar.
Kadir added that investigations on retired senior officers and GLC and GLIC executives or those who have been terminated should be carried out immediately.
“Forensic audit on GLCs and GLICs should also be standard operating procedure,” he said in his blog post.
He said sabotage by civil servants and GLC/GLIC executives were due to their inefficiency, ideological influence and corruption.
Kadir said while there were those who were world class, there were many more who were not.
“Because of (being) more than 60 years under the same government, their mentality has been influenced by the ideology of the ruling party which had become so feudalistic and corrupt in the recent decades.
“Although Pakatan did not continue or cut short the services of several senior officers and appointed new people, the Umno or Barisan Nasional ‘DNA’, ‘imprint’ and template are still strong.
The same thing happens in GLCs and GLICs,” said Kadir, adding that it was imperative that they are schooled systematically to be professional, impartial and corrupt-free.
He also claimed that there were some inexperienced ministers who were brainwashed by their ministry secretary-generals to the point they became “protective” of the secretary-generals and their senior officers.
Kadir said he was informed that there were certain minister who did not like to hear feedback from the party or the public on their secretary-generals.
“If this is true, no matter how few, (it's) is very dangerous for the Pakatan government and the people who depend on them.
“The government is exposed to sabotage and (being) misled by these leftover lackeys of the previous government.
“I heard of the same thing happening in certain GLCs and GLICs, although the top leadership has been changed,” he said, adding that the tendency to hide information was still rampant.
There were also those who were arrogant because they thought the new government would not know anything and that their expertise could be replaced. There were also certain GLC and GLIC management “spying” on their own staff so that they did not provide any details requested by the government, Kadir said.
He also shared a “classic story” he heard of a GLC CEO who said “he cannot remember” when asked about his salary.
After checking, it was learnt that his salary was over RM7mil a year, although the company was considered a monopoly.
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