Ex-PAC member Reezal warns against delay in choosing new chief

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican has warned that the delay in selecting a new Public Accounts Committee chief will erode public confidence in Putrajaya. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, August 11, 2015.

Former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said a new chairman for the parliamentary bi-partisan panel must be chosen quickly so that that lingering doubts among the public about state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) could be dispelled.

Reezal, who was recently appointed deputy foreign affairs minister, said finding a new chairman for the panel was an urgent matter as its probe into 1MDB had already been delayed.

"The longer this is delayed, the more it becomes a hot issue for debate.

"The auditor-general's interim report (on 1MDB) has already been presented and it is now in the process of completing its final report.

"And this final report has to be brought to the PAC. There is still a large amount of work to be done by the PAC if we are to restore the public's confidence," Reezal said at an event in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said that a special parliamentary sitting should be convened to decide on PAC as soon as possible.

"If it can be held in August, let us do it and not wait until October," he said. The next sitting of Parliament is only scheduled in October.

"If we wait until October, it means we are allowing the issue to stir unhappiness among the people which could lead to more speculation and slander," Reezal added.

Besides Reezal, three others in PAC were promoted to the cabinet. This included its chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

According to parliamentary rules, a member of the administration cannot sit on the panel. This caused the PAC's inquiry into 1MDB to be halted just as it was scheduled to question current and former executives of the debt-ridden firm.

The PAC had also received the auditor-general's interim report on the firm before the cabinet reshuffle.

The halt in its inquiry stirred public outcry over what was seen as an attempt to delay and cover up alleged wrongdoing in 1MDB, which also implicated Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

But Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan earlier said today that the committee which selects PAC members itself needed new members of its own.

This was because the nomination committee still included lawmakers which had been dropped in the recent cabinet reshuffle, such as former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former natural resources and environment minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.

- TMI