PUTRAJAYA, May 2 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he is confident the government’s plan to increase civil service salaries by a record amount will be approved despite public criticism.

He said federal lawmakers were unlikely to block this without good reason as they would face a backlash in future elections.

"People said this is Anwar’s proposal, it may not be approved in Parliament soon. I want to ask, which MP wants to object to this notion? If they do, we will throw them out at the next elections.

"People’s workload is increasing. The police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Customs, all of them were never given raises for 12 years. So, how can we continue when the ordinary man is struggling?

"Meanwhile, the top brass are all complaining because they want all the glory and a raise as well. This will not continue under this government. God willing, this proposal will be approved in style in Parliament so we can then implement it by December 1, 2024 said Anwar during a speech at the Home Ministry’s Hari Raya Open house event.

On Labour Day, Anwar announced the move that is expected to cost taxpayers RM10 billion more on top of existing spending for emolument.

The prime minister described the increments as "long overdue” to pre-empt criticism. The Malaysian government has long been criticised for its bloated civil service, whose emolument often rack up more than a third of federal budgets.

The planned salary increment will come under what Anwar called a new "human resource framework” that would raise the minimum pay for all public sector workers to RM2,000, among others.

The highest increment rate was 13 per cent, but the prime minister said the new increment will be "much higher”. The current minimum income, which includes salary and fixed allowances, is RM1,795 per month.