PETALING JAYA: Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Datuk Seri Borhan Dolah has confirmed that the appointment of Datuk Seri Mohamad Iskandar Mohd Kaus as National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) director has been retracted.
“We have retracted his appointment and he has returned to his post,“ he told reporters at the 18th Civil Service Conference at the Institute of Public Administration (Intan) here yesterday. Borhan did not state Mohamad Iskandar’s current position.
He added the decision was made after considering views of stakeholders.
“We are professionals, and we would like to serve the government of the day. We have studied the views (on the matter), which is the (basis) of the decision,” he said.
Asked when will the new director be announced, he said the appointment “... can be done anytime. We will hold a committee meeting probably next week,“ he added.
Borhan said that Mohamad Iskandar, who had previously served as Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s principal private secretary, will remain in his post.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who opened the conference defended the civil service, saying that it was unfair to judge their performance.
“I think if you take them through our civil service population, it isn’t that bad comparatively, (and) that it is not be fair to say they are not doing well,“ she said.
She was referring to a recent World Bank report which compared Malaysia’s civil servants with Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
The World Bank report said the comparison was made because Malaysia hoped to move from a middle-income status country to that of a high-income nation.
Datuk Azih Muda, president of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services Malaysia (Cuepacs) also slammed the report.
He rejected the view that Malaysia ranked lowly in its indicators for accountability, impartiality as well as the transparency and openness of the civil service.
