A police officer or civil servant who is appointed on contract can be terminated or have his or her services shortened at any time, says Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

In this regard, he said the replacement of the inspector-general of police (IGP), a position held by Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, with his deputy Razarudin Husain, was a normal process.

"Nothing controversial, don’t read beyond that. I had an audience earlier with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, followed by the prime minister, and the matter proceeded smoothly.

"I have also spoken to Acryl Sani… and tomorrow (today) we will conduct the handover of duties ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur police training centre, so there is nothing controversial," he said in an exclusive media editor session with the mome Minister at the home ministry complex yesterday.

He was commenting on the appointment of Razarudin as the new IGP to replace Acryl Sani effective June 23, as announced by him in a statement yesterday.

Acryl Sani was appointed as IGP on contract after retiring for two years effective Oct 4, 2021, meaning that his services should have ended on Oct 4 this year.

Saifuddin said that in principle, police officers with the rank of commissioner of police (CP) are eligible to be appointed to the post of IGP or deputy IGP.

"The police force has 25 officers with the rank of CP. They are the pool of talent to hold these two posts, and they are currently occupying positions in Bukit Aman departments or serving as state police chiefs or in the Special Branch.

"Currently, we have 47 officers with the rank of deputy commissioner of police, and this is the talent of police officers that will be involved if there is a vacancy for the position," he said.

He said they would be evaluated based on several criteria including integrity and a good understanding of public security and order, in addition to experience and academic qualifications.

He also expressed his appreciation to Acryl Sani for the services he provided during his tenure as IGP.

"I am comfortable with the level of cooperation with him, he is very conducive. It is not difficult to work with him. He managed a lot of matters on peace and public order professionally as long as the police force was under his leadership," he said.