Malaysian govt staff to get pay rise amid poll talk

Putrajaya (Malaysia), May 7: Malaysia will raise salaries for the country's 1.2 million civil servants, the prime minister said today, a move analysts say could precede an early general election.

Details of the pay revision, the first such hike in 14 years, are likely to be unveiled by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on May 21, officials said.

Abdullah, possibly gearing up for snap polls by early 2008, said today the much-awaited hike was on the cards.

''I think you deserve a pay rise,'' he told the staff of his Prime Minister's Department in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.

''It is only appropriate for the salary to be increased but the question is the quantum,'' he said. ''When the time comes, an announcement will be made.'' Speaking at another event in Kuala Lumpur, Abdullah said the pay revision would apply to all public servants, including the police and armed forces.

Malaysia, with 26 million people, has some 10.3 million eligible voters.

''He is hoping that the civil servants will again go for the ruling party and help it return with a big mandate as in 2004,'' said political analyst Yahaya Ismail.

Abdullah, who scored a thumping general election victory in 2004, said last week his ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was prepared for the polls.

''We are ready for general elections but the question is only when?'' he said after Barisan trounced the opposition in a recent by-election.

Most political experts expect an election early next year, though one is not due until 2009.

Malaysia last revised the salaries of government workers in 1993.

However, salaries had been adjusted five times since, the last one in 2000 when they were raised by 10 per cent.

A trade union representing government workers has asked for a 10 to 40 per cent pay revision, with the lowest-paid staff getting the biggest quantum.

Reuters>