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...