MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is likely to extend the retirement age for civil servants soon from 56 to 58.

According to political insiders, the decision was made at a recent Cabinet meeting and will likely be announced on Thursday, Labour Day.

It is not clear whether the move will appease Cuepacs, the umbrella body for government unions, which demanded before the March 8 general election that the government extend the retirement age to 60.

In early April, Cuepacs president Omar Othman said Mr Abdullah had agreed to extend the civil service retirement age to 60 - a claim later denied by the premier, who said he had merely listened to suggestions and promised to get back on them.

Mr Abdullah's decision to meet Cuepacs halfway was probably a foregone conclusion because the retirement age of civil servants throughout the region has long been extended past 55.

Even so, Mr Abdullah's predecessor Mahathir Mohamad, who was in power from 1981 to 2003, resisted the idea, preferring instead to extend employment selectively on grounds of competence, rather than opt for a blanket extension that would also reward so-called deadwood.

Seen from that perspective, Mr Abdullah's decision is a sign of the political pressure he is under after the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (People's Alliance) made tremendous inroads on the strength of blatantly populist platforms.

Over the years, the civil service has grown more ethnically Malay and has traditionally been viewed as a vote bank for the ruling National Front government.

But that may no longer be the case if the result of the last election is anything to go by.

According to the Centre for Policy Studies, a Kuala Lumpur-based think tank, the percentage of Malays in the civil service increased from 60 per cent in 1971, when affirmative action policies were first introduced, to 77 per cent in 2004.

The percentage rise was especially evident in the higher ranks, where Malays comprise 85 per cent of the Administrative and Diplomatic Service.

Political analysts have said it was primarily a swing in the Malay vote that enabled the Pakatan opposition alliance to gain power in five states.

From that perspective, Mr Abdullah's half-bow to the civil service may not address all their grievances, but it is a start.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on April 29, 2008.