By Clara Chooi
KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Cuepacs, an umbrella body representing over 800,000 public servants, and a newly-launched government pensioners club today pledged their "undivided" support to Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration for the coming elections.
Cuepacs president Datuk Omar Osman told government pensioners at the launch of KUPEKMAS (1 Malaysia Government Pensioners Club) here to stop the anti-government attacks during their "coffee shop talk" sessions, saying they should still stand with the rest of the country's 1.4-million strong civil service.
"It is important for us, as civil service retirees to stand with the remaining 1.4-milion strong civil service... they are the backbone, an important engine of the government.
"Don't as the PM for to give this and that and then at the end of the day, many are dissatisfied," he said to a crowd over nearly a thousand government pensioners at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.
"This coffee-shop talk, always condemning people... it is no longer time for that," said Omar, who is also KUPEKMAS president.
He trumpeted Najib's credentials to the crowd, pointing out that the country's prime minister has proven his mettle by reaching out to voters on the ground, irrespective of their race, religion and socio-economic backgrounds.
Omar then urged them to their feet in a show of support for Najib and BN, prompting them to shout "Agree" when he asked if the time was ripe now to back the government.
"I will continue this fight to ensure that the 1.4 million (civil servants) and 500,000 (government pensioners) stand strong with Datuk Seri (Najib).
"We want to ensure that this number 13 will be the number of glory for Datuk Seri's leadership," he thundered to the enthusiastic audience, referring to the coming 13th general election which must be held soon.
Critics from the federal opposition have often condemned government leaders for allegedly abusing the country's civil service, long viewed as a key vote bank for the ruling BN pact.
Recent days have seen top government officials go on an apparent overdrive to protect the BN government they serve.
Newly-appointed Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Ali Hamsa had recently raised eyebrows when he told his new charges that they “should know better” than to believe the “empty promises” made by the opposition.
Apart from Ali’s message to the civil service, Foreign Ministry undersecretary Ahmad Rozian Abdul Ghani recently attacked a Canadian newspaper for describing Najib as a “false democrat,” and insisted that the prime minister had “an impressive track record by anyone’s standards”.
“While the prime minister takes nothing for granted, he hopes he will be given a mandate to continue Malaysia’s transformation,” the diplomat added, appearing to campaign for the country’s sixth prime minister who is due to call for polls within months.
A director at Putrajaya’s efficiency unit, Pemandu, also made a public attack on Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for not improving the states it governs and focusing on sniping and criticising the federal government’s efforts.
“All oppos do is snipe & critic wot is being done but not focused on improving their states! Wot hv they done??” communications director Alex Iskandar Liew said on his public account on micro-blogging site Twitter, copying @barisannasional and @NRC11, a fan club dedicated to the prime minister.
Responding, PR leaders reminded civil servants that their loyalties should only lie with "the country, the King and the Federal Constitution and not to the ruling party."
“They (civil servants) must remember that the government of the day can change. These political parties that form the government of the day, they can come and go.
“So if these parties that rule, if they go into the wilderness, do you follow them? No. You still remain a civil servant and your loyalty is to serve the public professionally,” DAP national deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw told The Malaysian Insider recently.