BAGAN DATUK: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has reminded civil servants to make the right choice on polling day for the 14th general election to ensure continuity of development was maintained.
He said even though voting was secret, it was important for civil servants to choose a government that truly cared for them.
“My predecessor has stated that civil servants can vote for whoever they want because voting is secret. Yes that is true, but to vote for just about anyone I think is wrong because the Barisan Nasional government whether at the Bagan Datuk district, Perak or the national level, has looked after the welfare of civil servants very well,” he said at a meeting with civil servants from the Bagan Datuk district at Dewan Dato Lope Hashim here.
Also present were BN candidates for the Rungkup and Hutan Melintang state seats, Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya and Datuk Khairuddin Tarmizi, respectively.
More than 1,000 civil servants were present at the event, which was held for the first time since Bagan Datuk was recognised as the 12th district in Perak last year.
Zahid, who will be defending his Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat, said BN was the most capable of defending the fate and safeguarding the welfare of more than 1.6 million government officials and staff nationwide.
He said the government had never considered reducing the number of civil servants in the country, unlike the opposition, who may do so if they come into power.
“There is a group (opposition) which suggested that if they win, they will reduce the number of civil servants to not more than 300,000 people, when currently, there are more than 1.6 million.
“If the (workforce) size is reduced, there would be those among us (civil servants) who will be forced to retire. This means they are dismissing the good service of government officers and staff,” he said.
Zahid also drew attention to the fact that if BN won two-thirds majority in Dewan Rakyat as well as in the Perak state assembly, the state and Federal governments would give priority to the welfare of civil servants.
He said no one could deny that BN was the best choice for the country, hence, civil servants should translate this into re-electing the government come May 9.
“If we want to see continuity of development in Bagan Datuk and our entire country, there is no choice better than a BN government,” he said. -- Bernama