"Najib urged by Australian public service commissioner Stephen Sedgwick to jail Mamak immediately ..."
GTP needs civil service buy-in, says panel
In a series of recommendations, the International Performance Review (IPR) committee pressed on the need for the spirit of transformation to cascade down the ranks of the civil service so that the GTP becomes an “automatic process”.
The government-appointed committee said it was vital for public sector delivery to be self-sustaining in the long term, despite some degree of high-level micro-management at the start of the programme.
“The GTP and ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) must be durable, sustainable and not purely vested in the prime minister alone,” the five-man panel of experts said in the GTP annual report 2010.
The government should review the capabilities of civil service agencies to establish their capacity for strategic thinking and programme implementation, the committee suggested.
It added that the authority to hire and fire, among other responsibilities, be delegated within a clear framework of accountability for results.
Australian public service commissioner Stephen Sedgwick said the Najib administration could best demonstrate it was serious about reform by ensuring that the idea of change was translated into concrete reform in the public sector.
He cautioned that while the GTP presented a “marvellous opportunity” to make public administration more effective, it would take “real effort” to change the existing civil service culture.
“The civil service must be seen as responding to the citizenry,” Sedgwick said in the GTP annual report 2010 released earlier tonight.
The IPR committee also singled out the need to trim excessive bureaucracy to ensure Malaysia’s ability to change would not be limited.
IMF senior economist Sergei Dodzin said simplifying regulations would not only reduce opportunities for corruption and promote greater transparency in business practices but also reduce the cost of doing business in Malaysia.
“Such a move will have an immediate and tremendous effect on both the GTP and the ETP,” he said.
The five-man panel was tasked with assessing, reviewing, verifying and critiquing GTP results over the last year “without fear or favour”.
Sounding a more positive note, McKinsey partner Sir Michael Barber called the GTP “innovative” for getting top leaders involved from the get-go and commended Malaysia for delivering results much faster than other countries, including his native UK.
The former chief advisor to British prime minister Tony Blair said it was good Malaysia did not declare victory too soon as the job was not yet done, adding that there was a need to maintain focus, set higher targets and “go deeper rather than broader” in years to come.
“While Malaysia has begun a world-leading transformation programme, there is always more to learn from other countries,” he said.
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