SHAH ALAM, 23 Sept: Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was the first Chief Minister of Selangor who successfully separated that administration of the State Government from political influence.

The Selangor State Government Secretary, Datuk Khusrin Munawi, said that the move allowed for the administration to be carried out more efficiently and transparently without political interference.

“As a civil servant, I saw no political interference at all in his administration.

“This enabled civil servants to be free to make decisions in a transparent manner without taking into account political interests,” said Khusrin at the Farewell Ceremony for Abdul Khalid’s last day as the 14th Chief Minister of Selangor yesterday.

The ceremony was attended by over 1,000 civil servants and was held here at the State Government Secretary’s (SUK) Building.

Khusrin added that the transparency policy adopted by Abdul Khalid is one of the factors of several successes such as increasing state reserves until it has reached over RM3 billion.

When touching on the brief ceremony, Khusrin stated that he was surprised when it received overwhelming support from civil servants who were working at the SUK Building.

“Throughout my experience of working with several Chief Ministers, I have never seen such a Chief Minister’s farewell ceremony like this, with the presence of so many people like this,” added Khusrin.

Khusrin has held several key positions in the State Government, from his early appointment as the SUK at the end of 2010 which sparked controversy as it was not in tandem with the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Government Administration under Abdul Khalid.

NS