Discussion Forum

The news set the political scene abuzz.The opposition has trumpeted the defections as a sign of crumbling support for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN). Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin warned that while retired officials could enter politics, they remain bound by an oath to keep government secrets.

Two of the former officials joined Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). They are Fauzi Shaari, former chief of the criminal investigations department (CID), and Nik Zain Nik Yusof, former secretary-general of the Land and Cooperatives Development Ministry. The post of CID chief is the third-highest in the police force. A secretary-general of a ministry has the same rank as a permanent secretary in Singapore.
Both said they wanted to spend the remainder of their lives fighting for Islam, according to PAS' party newspaper Harakah.

The news comes two weeks after a former solicitor-general II - the third most senior prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Chambers - joined the defence team of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Yusof Zainal Abiden was the chief government prosecutor in Anwar's sodomy trial which ended with an acquittal this year. He is now defending Anwar, who has been charged over his role in a street rally.
Yusof had opted for early retirement in February to set up a private practice.

Then over the weekend, Dr Rosli Yaakop, a retired deputy manager of the Malaysian central bank, spoke at an opposition-organised forum that featured Anwar. Rosli made fresh allegations against the government over the foreign currency speculation scandal of the early 1990s when Bank Negara lost up to 30 billion ringgit (US$9.3 billion).

Party-hopping is not unheard of in Malaysia. Former Umno Cabinet minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir quit the ruling party earlier this year after publicly accusing the party of buying votes and started a new party, Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan). Former health minister Chua Jui Meng left the Malaysian Chinese Association in 2009 to join Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

But most retired senior civil servants stay firmly out of the limelight and the recent defections could hurt the BN. Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief of the think-tank Ideas, said the former top civil servants could help PAS discard its image as a "parti kampung" (rural party) by inducting more professionals. "It will show that the party is becoming more accepted by professional and progressive Malays," he told The Straits Times.

After two of the retired officials joined PAS, DPM Muhyiddin said: "They are still subjected to the oath not to divulge information after leaving the (civil) service." Civil servants have to sign agreements witnessed by their department heads not to disclose sensitive information. These include Cabinet deliberations and documents on national security, defence and international relations. Otherwise, they can be charged under the Official Secrets Act and face life imprisonment.

Malaysia seems gripped by the Arab Spring which has come to ASEAN and Bersih 3.0 is evident : http://malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.sg/2012/05/how-bn-lost-middle-ground-open-letter.html
Will Indonesia be next?