JOHOR BARU, May 30 — Johor Umno has called on the Pakatan Harapan state government to review its decision to terminate the services of village heads and community leaders in the state.

Johor Umno Liaison Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the directive to end the services effective tomorrow, was issued through a letter from the mentri besar dated May 28.

Mohamed Khaled in a statement here today said the two-day notice which caught many of them by surprise, was seen as revenge as there was no strong justification for the termination.

He said if the measure was taken with the aim to reduce the financial burden of the state government in line with the federal government’s move, this was unreasonable as the state has a surplus budget.

Mohamed Khaled said the Johor government should not treat the village heads and community leaders as political appointees whose services could be terminated without just cause.

As such, he described the move as politically-motivated, which was done in haste and in an unprofessional manner.

He said unlike those in the Special Affairs Department (JASA) or the National Civics Bureau (BTN), these village heads and community leaders had no political interests as their focus was on serving the local community.

According to him, the sudden and immediate termination was no different than trying to show power over low-ranking leaders in society.

"This is unreasonable and a show of arrogance. Moreover, no transparent evaluation or objective performance review was conducted on the village heads and community leaders before deciding on the termination.

"The move is clearly vindictive as the notice of service termination was accompanied by a proposal to appoint new village heads or community leaders,” he said. — Bernama