KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Malaysian youths can play a greater role in delivering government service if job promotions within the civil service is not only based on the seniority of these candidates, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.

"We can make improvements, for example, we can create a fastlane for officers that are capable, show good work ethics. So promotion is not necessarily on seniority only, certainly there will be certain percentage that goes up faster because of merit.

"So if we have such changes, youths can play a bigger role in government policies, in the government delivery system,” he said during a townhall session last night on the 2050 National Transformation (TN2050).

Earlier, a man who said he has been in the civil service for 12 years noted that young civil servants want to be more involved and seen as a group to be reckoned with.

"Can young civil servants be given more opportunities to stand out or occupy the highest management level to drive the nation,” asked the man, who is currently doing his masters at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

He said he wished that the country’s civil service could become the best in the world.

"Not to say we didn’t achieve high standards, but with various challenges, perception from all quarters, we need a focused transformation so that our civil service is recognised in the eyes of the world,” he said.

When tabling the Budget last October 21, Najib announced that a series of national discourses would be carried out to chart the nation’s direction for the coming 30 years under the TN50 plan.