Department heads within the Interior Ministry must immediately begin enforcing a Royal Decree issued in October that prohibits civil servants from holding two government jobs at the same time, according to a letter issued by ministry Secretary of State Sak Setha last week.
Mr. Setha’s letter, dated Friday and obtained Sunday, reminds the department heads of the October decree, and asks them not to ignore its rule that he says is part of the “in-depth reforms of the National Assembly’s fifth mandate.”
“Paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the above-mentioned Royal Decree states that: ‘Civil servants are not allowed to hold more than one permanent position, whether it is in the same ministry institution or a different ministry institution,’” writes Mr. Setha, who is in charge of reform at the Interior Ministry.
“In order to properly implement and comply with the content of the Royal Decree…[we] request that your excellencies instruct lower officials in your institutions who hold more than two positions to select one position that he/she holds currently in order to provide an opportunity for other civil servants.”
Mr. Setha declined to comment Sunday, but other government officials said that they did not believe the problem was widespread inside their institutions.
“This law has existed for a long time. It is illegal to hold two positions, and you cannot take salaries from two places,” said Mok Chito, who was recently named a deputy commissioner of the National Police, and who also serves as head of the Interior Ministry’s central judicial department.
“This is a reminder to wake up the spirits,” he said, allowing that some people do, in fact, hold multiple posts at state institutions. “This reform is to…get rid of some inactive people who come and work here and there.”
Lieutenant General Chito added that the ban did not extend to state employees like himself, who have positions in both the police and Interior Ministry, explaining that his titles complement each other and do not reflect different jobs.
“For Chhay Sinarith, he is the deputy National Police commissioner in charge of internal security,” he said. “I am in charge of the central judicial department in my role as deputy National Police commissioner. It is not two positions.”
Brigadier General Kheng Tito, the spokesman for the National Military Police, which falls under the authority of the Defense Ministry, said nobody inside the military police had two jobs.
“Our institution does not have any people who hold two positions. If you have two positions, you have to resign and take only one position,” he said.
