PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) didn’t realise the huge rot that had seeped into the whole administrative system under Barisan Nasional (BN), economist Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam (pix) said today.
He said these were among the challenges faced by PH in its first year as the federal government.
“They have done well under the trying circumstances, but they could have done much better,” Ramon said in an assessment of the first-year performance of the PH government.
The corruption and decay that was rife from the top to bottom of government, and was sadly led by some of the top most leaders and officials themselves, the Asli Centre of Public Policy Studies chairman said in a statement.
Ramon pointed out that the bias and consequent professional weakening in the whole civil and public services were caused by about 60 years of dominant rule by one political party.
“Blind loyalty had developed in many civil servants to serve party politics, rather than following the time tested traditional good values of the civil service,” he said.
“The ministers in the past were also understandably, more experienced. They may have encouraged the growth of many Little Napoleons, but they could control them. But today many of the Little Napoleons are resisting the less-experienced ministers. The new PH ministers have now to bring them under stronger control and better manage these Little Napoleons, or lose out.”
He added that cronies were pervasive and their negative influences on the administration have to be more strongly resisted, to reduce the rot that had sunk into the administrative system. That is why the destructive practice of money politics has to be severely controlled soon, he added.
