By Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, October 8, 1991:
Ghafar should intervene in the high-handed and irregular removal of the MARA Director-General by Tamrin Ghafar to ensure that such politicking does not undermine public service morale
DAP is gravely concerned at the high-handed and irregular removal of the MARA Director-General, Haji Mohamad Ridzuan Haji Abdul Halim, by the MARA Chairman, Tamrin Ghafar, in utter disregard of established government procedures and regulations.
Last Staruday Tamrin announced the removal of the MARA Director-General, Haji Mohamad Ridzuan Haji Abdul Halim, and his replacement by Dr. Mohamad Noor haji Harun, the deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Public Enterprises, as the new MARA Director-General.
Tamrin said that Haji Ridzuan was appointed head of the newly-created Research and Development Centre.
The Public Services Department (PSD) Director-General, Tan Sri Mahmud Taib has said that the PSD had never been consulted on the appointment. MARA officials had also said that Haji Ridzuan’s removal and appointment to a yet-to-be-created post is most suspicious, improper and extraordinary.
The controversy over the removal of the MARA Director-General and its replacement seems to have highlighted one of the dangers of appointing an active politician to head a government agency –which is to politicize to operations of the agency to suit the political ambitions of the Chairman.
Public service morale would be greatly undermined if established procedures and regulations with regard to appointment and promotions could be discarded just to suit the political whims and fancies of the political head of the agency.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Ghafar Baba, should intervene in the high-handed and irregular removal of the MARA Director-General by Tamrin Ghafar to ensure that public service morale is not undermined by improper politicking in the public service.