Partnership in Development:
Politicians and The Public
Service
Dr James Masing looks at the present structure that make it possible for the
politicians and the Public Service to work as partners in development.
In his
Paper, Dr. James Masing stressed that politicians refer to the legislature or
elected representatives, while Public Service refers to the Civil Service.
"The Malaysian governmental system has three distinct branches: Legislative,
Judiciary and the Civil Service.
Though each operates independently, having its own rules and regulations, they are governed by the same Constitution.
The Constitution of Malaysia leaves no doubt about the need for these two branches of government (Legislature/Politicians and the Public Service) to be partners
in governing the nation.
Because they are partners, they must also be partners in development.
The question is: Can these two branches actually work as partners in development?
Do structures, rules or ordinance within the Constitution allow for working
partnership of these two branches?
Good and working partnership must mean, to a large extent, equal contribution to the task at hand."
Dr. James Masing examined the method of recruitment into these two branches of government.
"The rules regarding eligibility of a person to contest as a Member of Parliament or as a member of the State Legislative Assembly is clearly spelt out in the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981.
The rules do not require a candidate to be of certain academic standard nor do they stipulate that he or she should posses minimum working experience in certain profession.
The most important rule which every contestant must possess is that he or she
must be a Malaysian citizen of 21 years and above.
Therefore for a candidate to have a fighting chance, he or she must be well-liked by the people in the constituency in which he or she wishes to contest and possibly with proven track record of doing good job.
Thus, among members of the legislature, good leadership and proven performance would enable a particular elected representative to continue with his duties.
The procedures of recruitment in the Public Service are very well defined and focused.
When a position is advertised specific requirements for that position are clearly spelt out.
Applications which do not fulfil those requirements as stipulated will not be considered.
The second phase of recruitment in the Public Service is an interview with the candidates to ensure that a candidate for the advertised post not only has required
paper qualification, but also possess the correct attitude and the personality
to carry out his or her responsibilities. In short, recruitment to the Public Service is transparent and job focussed.
Partnership
The working partnership of these two branches of the government has not always been easy.
There are times when members of these two professions clash with each other.
Most of these clashes are based on issue of who know best - the Civil Service claims that they are professionals in their respective fields and are therefore in a better position to make decision, while the politicians feel that they are accountable to the people (at least once in every five years) and hence should have the final decision on certain issues.
There is therefore a psychological barrier which can hinder a smooth working partnership between the politicians and the Civil Service in this country.
This barrier needs to be addressed if these two important branches of government are expected to work together to ensure that development is carried out as planned.
This barrier arises, in my opinion, from methods of recruitment: one branch of government recruitment procedures are vague on what are needed in terms of experience and ability, while the other is very precise and hence can become a source of ambivalence and uneasiness in the partnership.
The basis for this dates back to the early days of Independence. Members of the legislature were then people of mixed abilities and experiences. And some of these abilities and experiences might not be of much relevance to issues of development and governance.
Times have changed. More and more elected representatives are at least academically qualified and with various professional experiences." "In a political environment where the modus operandi of the three branches (Judiciary, Legislative and the Civil Service) is clearly spelt out, there should not be any ambiguity and ambivalence in their working relationship.
The Legislative (politicians) and the Civil Service must know where they stand in the scheme of parliamentary democracy and what are their responsibilities."
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