LETTER | I refer to the Malaysiakini report PM questions loyalty of civil servants who campaigned for BN.

I wish to express a concern that some honest civil servants may be persecuted because of their political leanings. The above report raised that concern.

As much as I understand the prime minister's concern about their loyalty and rightly so, you cannot possibly purge the whole civil service from any civil servant who worked for the previous government.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said himself that this was not possible else there would be no one in the civil service. If the reverse had happened, i.e. Pakatan Harapan had lost the elections, then those very civil servants who campaigned for Harapan would have lost their jobs under BN.

The new government is a strong advocate for freedom of speech and choice. It was that freedom of choice that probably made some civil servants brave enough to vote for Harapan in the GE14.

Should that freedom of choice be carefully watched? Yes, especially for some of the departments that deal with national security and sensitive information but other than that, shouldn't everyone have a right to decide whom to support (outside of working hours)?

Like any employer, the government has the discretionary right to hire/fire those that might sabotage the new government but for those that just agree to a different party manifesto, let them exercise their right to agree to disagree with the government.

The Harapan government should not be like the previous government that instilled fear in civil servants. They are better than that. They should work hard and earn the respect of those who disagree with them.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.