MANILA – The government has introduced a policy requiring the civil service to take the lead in advising the administration on policies and strategies instead of relying on external consultants, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The prime minister said this can be done with the civil servants providing research recommendations and findings for decision-making, as opposed to dependency on third parties, unless there was a lack of subject experts in the government.
Anwar said a new policy has been implemented, and guidelines on the matter have already been given to the public sector.
The PKR President said the Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, had “made the matter clear” to the civil service, and that he had mentioned it repeatedly in post-cabinet meetings – particularly in the Prime Minister’s Department and the Finance Ministry.
However, Anwar said that this did not mean that the government would not seek the help of the consultants, especially in specialised areas where the public sector lacked expertise.
“I have made that reference (on consultants) during the Budget discussions because I have faith in the ability of civil servants who have the experience, expertise, and even the academic qualifications,” Anwar told a press conference after attending hi-tea with the Malaysian diaspora at the Malaysian ambassador’s official residence in Makati, here, this evening.
“So if they need, for example, some form of assistance from consultants, that can be done but it must be led by our team – then we train them.
“When they (civil servants) have the exposure, they can train the younger ones."
The prime minister, who was attending the final event of his official two-day visit to the Philippines, was asked to elaborate on his response during a question-and-answer session, where he said that past governments have overly relied on external and foreign consultants on a host of matters, costing the administration hundreds of millions of taxpayers money.
“What’s happening now is the tendency to apportion most of these findings and recommendations to an entirely foreign body with the input from the civil servants,” Anwar said.
“We have the capacity and expertise of the civil servants and where do we utilise that?”
“If they need consultants, they can tell us they need them in a particular field...we don’t need to delegate entire recommendations as they have done on many types of research.
He also said the expenses of hiring external consultants, especially foreign ones, were high and that civil servants tend to not receive training in the areas involved.
“It’s just like not having enough confidence in the civil service.” – The Vibes, March 2, 2023
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