COMMENT | The civil service – termed as public service by the Federal Constitution – plays a key part in the running the country, especially the daily routine functioning of government. As it stands, no political party aspiring to take charge of Putrajaya can afford to ignore its importance.

The reasons are not difficult to spell out. For one thing, the civil service now provides employment for an estimated 1.5 million people, most of whom are Malays.

And when it comes time to vote, members of the military and the police force – more than 16 percent of the service – remain major contributors. Since the 13th general election, they also provided another lifeline for the sitting government through early voting.

To a certain extent, the civil service is another element that props up the Malay and Islamic character of the whole system – apart from the entrenched provisions on Islam, the monarchy, Malay language, as well as the special position for Malays.

This is inevitable, as state secretaries who head the state civil service have to be appointed from among Malays and Muslims, just like menteris besar. Then one has the Royal Malay Regiment, that serves as the backbone of the federation’s armed forces.

It is not just the status quo that the overwhelming majority of the civil servants happen to be Malays.

That notwithstanding, the position of the civil service has not been given much thought, even by Pakatan Harapan who have been talking about reforming key institutions of the nation.

Reform here does not necessarily mean doing away with the provisions. Obviously, as a two-thirds majority is not within their reach – even Umno-BN have stopped singing this mantra – there is no question of abolishing what is essentially another form of privileges for Malays...