Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must explain the cabinet’s delay in tabling the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report, a DAP parliamentarian has demanded.

NONE Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong (left) reiterated the opposition stance that the delay had been engineered “to separate good news from the so-called bad news to disenfranchise the MPs from debating it”.

Auditor-General Ambrin Buang had said last week that it has been a common practice since 1982 for the report to be submitted to the cabinet before being tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.

“While we are not questioning the practice, I think the responsibility lies with the cabinet to decide when it should be presented,” Liew told reporters in the Parliament lobby today.

NONE “I want the prime minister to explain why it is being presented after the policy debate has ended.”

The bulky 31-volume report critiques federal and state expenditure, as well as debt and accounting discrepancies, and assesses national fiscal health.

It is usually tabled prior to the Budget to allow parliamentarians to debate issues it raises, during the policy stage debate of the annual Supply Bill.

However, the report was tabled later than the Budget for the second consecutive year.

‘Standard practice’

The MPs had wrapped up the policy debate on the Supply Bill 2012 last week.

“The standard practice is for it to be presented before the Budget and before the policy debate,” said Liew.

“It doesn’t matter if it one day, one week or a month before, but the standard practice is that (it must be tabled before the) policy debate.”

The opposition has argued that its members require the data to debate the national budget more effectively.

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