Muhyiddin, the Perikatan Nasional chairman, said that while the rising pension payments were concerning, the welfare of civil servants should come first.

“Any solution (to the pension payment issues) cannot lead to the neglect of the welfare of civil servants or the reduction of the service’s size,” he said in a statement.

This comes after the public services department (JPA) announced that new civil servants would be appointed on a contractual basis pending a new policy on hiring civil servants for permanent posts without pensions.

Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that the contracts were for a short period before the Cabinet approved the new policy.

He added that the policy, which is expected to be implemented this year, was necessary with the federal government projected to pay RM120 billion in pensions by 2040 without the introduction of a new system.

Muhyiddin pointed out that a large number of the 1.6 million civil servants were in critical services such as safety, health and education.

“The civil service is the core of the state’s capacity especially at a time of crisis. Our country was one of the first to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic because of them.”

The Bersatu president urged the government to focus on promoting investments and boosting economic growth to increase the country’s revenue, rather than downsizing the civil service to save costs.