Govt to ensure win-win situation, Zahid tells contract doctors amid strike plans

The government will ensure the implementation of a win-win solution so that no party is at a loss or feels left out in the contract doctor issue, says Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid, who is also chairman of the high-level committee to resolve the issue, said he would present the details of the situation to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim soon.

He said that contract doctors should be accorded fair treatment and their welfare protected according to government service procedures and schemes.

"We do not have a problem discussing and solving the issue. I know this is a long-standing problem but I am confident it can be solved," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Zahid, who is also rural and regional development minister, said the special committee involving the health ministry, Public Service Department and Public Service Commission had been discussing several proposals including granting permanent employment to contract doctors.

"Several conditions of the new scheme will be discussed, so I hope they (contract doctors) will give me the chance in my capacity as chairman of the committee to resolve it," he said.

A group of contract doctors who associate themselves with an online account named "Mogok Doktor Malaysia" (Malaysian Doctors Strike) was reported as planning a strike from Monday to Wednesday to protest what they call an unfair contract system and low wages.