By Maung Moe Nyo
Civil service personnel are the employees who are appointed to a position in the constitution of an organization approved by the Union Government and provided salary as well as fringe benefits from the State Budget Account. Civil Service Personnel include all employees from the workers on daily wages to the Director-General position.
Recruiting employees
In recruiting employees, workers on daily wages and non-gazette officers are appointed with the approval of the head of the relevant department and the mid-level senior officers are selected by the approval of the Civil Service Board. Department officials who have higher ranks are directly appointed by the President.
The approved subordinate staff are selected following the relevant laws and regulations of the State civil service personnel as well as with the required staff qualifications and ethics. Higher-level employees are even more selective. In the past, a background check was conducted to confirm his appointment as a civil servant.
In addition to striving to meet the required qualification, a civil servant must respect and obey the prescribed civil service law and code of conduct.
“We will keep royalty and respect to the State. We will work to prevent the disintegration of the Union and the unity of the ethnic nationalities. We will uphold sovereignty. We will serve the country as civil service personnel and be free from party politics. We will perform the duties and orders given by the State.” These are the six commitments of civil servants.
Since civil servants have to obey and practise the facts mentioned above, it can be seen that it is not easy to become a good civil servant. Nevertheless, they perform the duties of civil servants to serve the country with their knowledge and skill and for the benefits of the people as well as to be able to live with dignity.
Good civil servants
Successive governments have selected and appointed good civil servants when we look at the history of civil service personnel of Myanmar. There were also civil servants who were taken legal actions when they broke the laws and regulations and ethics of civil service personnel or when they committed a crime. It can be found that heads of the relevant departments who can administer their employees in accordance with elders’ ethics are committed to their duties for the benefits of the State, people and the departments.
In doing so, there were some department heads who were taken legal action for their breach of departmental disciplines, ethics and they were dismissed from their duties and appointments. The head of the department is the person who has to give special loyalty and respect to the country, unlike the other employees.
Besides, they betrayed the country and rebelled. Civil servants perform their duties to serve the country and people. They are not working for the stability of the government. They have to complete their duty to serve the country no matter what the government changes but they can resign from their work if they do not like a government.
In the history of civil service personnel, there were senior officials with strong emotions who bravely resigned from their work according to the civil service regulations and law if they did not like it professionally or personally. It is obvious there is no betrayal of the country although they resigned from their work to express their dissatisfaction.
At present, a stigma has emerged in the history of civil service caused by the previous government. It started from the previous government’s ignorance of the fact “civil servants must be free from party politics”. During the previous regime, the employees were influenced by party politics. Civil servants must be free from party politics although they have the freedom to vote. The government splits in the history of Myanmar has proved the unstable government system when the public servants are associated with party politics as an instance of past experiences in the parliamentary era in Myanmar.
Performing the State’s duties diligently
Some senior officials appointed by the previous NLD government broke the Civil Service Code of Conduct with a strong obsession with party politics. Besides, they betrayed the country and rebelled. Civil servants perform their duties to serve the country and people. They are not working for the stability of the government. They have to complete their duty to serve the country no matter what the government changes but they can resign from their work if they do not like a government.
In doing so, there were some department heads who were taken legal action for their breach of departmental disciplines, ethics and they were dismissed from their duties and appointments.
A medical expert, who was an official, and an ambassador betrayed the country, against the existing government. It was suspected while this medical expert was conducting a public awareness campaign on COVID-19 prevention, as a politician. He acted as the community leader while he was the deputy chief of the medical department and when the government changes, he has become the illegitimate union minister for three ministers, working together with the illegal CPRH for the 2021 spring revolution.
He has led to escalate the protest into the uprising in the country and foreign dependency by consistent incitements on social media with fake news and illegal statements.
He has been inciting the public that the CDM has fully succeeded and giving various ways to succeed CDM and to speed up the riots. Finally, he has made the right thing into wrong one, true into false and justice into injustice. Civil servants currently working were threatened with the statement saying that if they did not involve in the CDM, they don’t need to work starting from 8 March. He also said that 10 days of public holidays will be announced to commemorate the fallen employees and people. Besides, he threatened those who did not participate in the CDM would be announced as those who were detrimental to the benefits of the people on social media. Offices, schools and hospitals have been informed to contact them and there were also instigations to stockpile the food supplies for at least 10 or 15 days.
Despite the intimidations and pressures, civil service personnel are still working with a smile for the people who live under the military regime and they are the good civil service personnel who serve the country and people with loyalty no matter which the government is.
Translated.
