Cabinet ministers and civil servants, led by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, today signed a pledge of loyalty to the government.

Mahathir signed the "Akujanji" (I Pledge) letter of undertaking of good conduct before Malaysian King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail who certified the document.

The premier later witnessed his cabinet ministers and civil servants signing the agreement at the Putrajaya government administrative capital as a pledge of allegiance to the king and the government.

"This is not a pledge... but as a confession of our intention to perform our duties to the best of our ability," Mahathir told his cabinet at the signing ceremony in Putrajaya.

He said the government had succeeded in overcoming the 1997/98 financial crisis by adopting a "hands on administration" but there was still room for improvement.

'Principles are clear'

In Penang, civil servants also signed the Akujanji agreement witnessed by the state's chief minister Koh Tsu Koon.

Koh was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency that the pledge was not to deny civil servants their rights to support other political parties, but to ensure they discharged their duties as directed by the government.

"Its principle is clear and it does not mean that by signing the Akujanji, the individual's rights are being denied by the government," he added.

The premier has said the signing of the good conduct pledge by some 900,000 civil servants was compulsory as part of efforts to improve the administration and ensure that government employees were committed to carrying out their jobs.

The government has also required all 200,000 undergraduates at public universities, along with staff and lecturers, to sign the pledge when the new academic session begins in May.

To keep a check

The pledge, among other things, requires the signatories to be loyal to the king, government and university and to heed orders, officials said.

Mahathir has said the pledge was to check "poisoning of the minds" of students so they "stick to the original purpose of entering universities to gain knowledge and not to indulge in anti-government activities."

In October last year, 61 university lecturers allegedly engaged in anti-government activities were sacked, transferred or given warnings. (AFP)