Pakatan Harapan's main agenda will be to reform the public service if it wins the next general elections, said its chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah.

"If we were to win Putrajaya, the first thing we will do is to prepare a white paper on reforming the public service," he said at a economic governance forum today.

Saifuddin said the white paper will then be tabled in Parliament for approval.

"The public service deserves the kind of attention from the highest decision making (body)," he said, adding that all major stakeholders will be included in the process.

The former Umno deputy minister stressed that the public service and governance had failed to meet the expectation of the public.

"I may sound very negative, but I don't blame it on the civil service, I blame it on politics. This is the direct effect of politics, administration and culture," Saifuddin said.

The forum was organised by Malaysian Economic Association (MEA) as an effort to brainstorm among former civil servants and experts on public policy.

Meanwhile, MEA vice-president Norma Mansor pointed out that problems in the public service were due to the absence of strong leadership, a factor identified in a research and investigation done on the New Economic Model (NEM).

Norma, a professor in Universiti Malaya, said those who are working in the civil service are reluctant to take responsibilities.

"They are not willing to stick their head out to do something that is tough and necessary," she added.

The culture of responsibility and strong leadership should be inculcated in the public service to bring any change, Norma said.

Thus, she added, the white paper on public service may not work without strong leadership.