Mahathir tells civil servants to back govt

Mahathir tells civil servants to back govt

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad urged
civil servants on Friday to shed pro-opposition sympathies and
instead work with his government, claiming that Malaysia's
prosperity could otherwise collapse within a few years.

"There are those who feel this government is not Islamic and
reeks of corruption and cronyism," Mahathir said in a speech to
senior government officials in charge of the civil service. "Such
perceptions have yet to hinder our development efforts, but it is
not a good sign."

The speech marked Mahathir's latest bid to shore up his power
base since general elections in 1999, when ethnic Malay Muslims
partly deserted his party and voted for the opposition,
particularly an Islamic party, to show dissatisfaction with his
rule.

The 800,000-strong civil service is the preserve of Malay
Muslims, the dominant ethnic group and backbone of Mahathir's
long-ruling United Malays National Organization, which has
traditionally stressed development over religion.

Mahathir said that Malaysia, which he has built into one of
Southeast Asia's richest countries during his 19-year rule, will
lose if the civil service stops serving the government - which,
since independence in 1957, has been run by his party.

"If it is allowed to fester, the first evidence of our country
cracking and collapse will show rapidly," Mahathir said. "We can
fall in two to three years".

Much disillusionment with Mahathir, both from Malays and the
large Chinese and Indian minorities, stems from him sacking Anwar
Ibrahim as his deputy in 1998. Anwar was beaten in custody and
convicted of sodomy and corruption in trials that many saw as
politically orchestrated.

Many civil servants have since openly supported the Pan-
Malaysian Islamic Party, which made big gains in the 1999 polls,
and the National Justice Party headed by Azizah Ismail, Anwar's
wife.

In December, scores of civil servants skipped work and cheered
at an opposition rally outside a complex where government
departments are housed in Kuala Lumpur.

In his speech, Mahathir took a customary swipe at the West,
saying Malaysia would have to give up pro-Malay affirmative
action and "become slaves" if foreigners gain control of the
economy, still suffering from the 1997-98 Asian crisis, in the
name of globalization.

"We have to have political stability, free of racial tension
and have a professional civil service to fight this threat,"
Mahathir said.

Ethnic Malays enjoy special privileges, aimed at increasing
their economic clout, under policies instituted after race riots
in 1969. They have been increasingly questioned in recent months
by ethnic Chinese, who say economic advancement should be based
on individual merit.

In another development, Mahathir kept the country guessing on
Friday over a planned reshuffle of his cabinet.

The markets had speculated that Mahathir, Asia's longest
serving elected leader, would announce changes to his cabinet
after a meeting of the policy-making arm of his United Malays
National Organization (UMNO).

But at the end of the three-hour party meeting Mahathir said:
"It had nothing to do with the cabinet reshuffle."

Earlier this week, Mahathir said he would reshuffle his
cabinet soon.

"When I reshuffle I will announce," Mahathir told a news
conference.

Mahathir is scheduled to leave for a two-day official visit to
Japan on Monday.

Uncertainty over when Mahathir will announce the reshuffle has
unsettled financial markets and hurt volume on the stock exchange
on Friday.

The planned reshuffle, which follows the resignation last week
of Islamic affairs minister Abdul Hamid Othman, would be the
first since a November 1999 general election.