Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, attending a DAP-hosted dialogue on parliamentary reforms Sunday, stirred the crowd when he said parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) should not be chaired by the opposition as they would not understand that certain budgetary 'sensitivities' need to be protected.

Nazri, who is in charge of parliamentary affairs, told the dialogue's participants ranging from members of parliament to civil society leaders, that "there are sensitivities in government which needed to be taken into account."

"If the Public Accounts Committee chairperson is from the opposition, what stops them from going to the various ministries and asking for information on their accounts? There are sensitivities which we have to consider ... I know you will hit me over this, but let me be frank with you," he said.

Responding, DAP chairperson and fellow panellist Lim Kit Siang said the excuse of 'sensitivities' was an obstacle in stamping out corruption.

"To say that the opposition as PAC chairperson would expose too many things is most shocking. It just shows how the PAC is no longer a guard dog but now reduced to a lap dog," said Lim, who is opposition leader for the new parliament session beginning today.

NIP questioned

"The other reason given was that an opposition PAC chairperson would make nuisance of himself or herself if he or she were to request a full probe. Perhaps the minister is not aware of the PAC's terms of reference, which is to ensure the government's budget and supplementary allocations are well spent.

"It raises the question of whether the government is prepared to uphold the National Integrity Plan (NIP). I call on the prime minister to appoint a PAC chairperson from the opposition if he means business," said Lim further.

Unveiled in April, the NIP is the new administration's blueprint for tackling graft, but has been criticised by observers as lacking clear guidelines.

The session on parliamentary reforms, chaired by Kepong Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Tan Seng Giaw, was the third part of a full-day forum on a 'First World Parliament' - a position increasingly espoused by both the government and the opposition DAP in recent weeks.

There are, however, stark differences between the DAP's and the government's notion of parliamentary reforms.

Select committees

At yesterday's session, Nazri also dismissed DAP's proposal to have permanent select committees appointed to all ministries saying the added responsibilities would be 'too burdensome' for the country's 209 parliamentarians.

"MPs are expected to do service to the community. We don't want to burden them with extra work when they are needed on the ground," Nazri said, adding that BN could only justify having select committees to scrutinise certain bills and not all.

His comments on this were also rapped by Lim, who expressed disconcertment that MPs were no longer looked upon to deal with policy matters affecting the country.

"It would appear that an MP's most important job is to deal with longkang (drains) and potholes. The reason MPs have to take up these issue is because local councils have failed to perform. If that is the case, then let us have local elections for the councillors so that MPs are released to deal with policy issues," said Lim.

MP attendance and parliamentary quorum - two issues that had plagued the last parliamentary session - were also discussed.

Nazri proposed that as solution to the dismal attendance, a 'buddy system' could be instituted to pair up the 93 ministers, deputies and parliamentary secretaries with the 105 government backbenchers with each taking turns at attending parliament.

"We can't have everyone sit in parliament for the whole day for 15 days in a row. You just can't. The seat will get very hot and if you sit too long, you may get piles!" Nazri explained.

Comments 'frivolous'

Nazri's comments were later roundly dismissed by participants and panellists as 'frivolous'. Among them, was Transparency International Malaysia president Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim.

"The answers we got today were frivolous. Why can't the PAC be chaired by the opposition? It will be a true test of public accountability which shows that the government has nothing to hide," he said.

He warned that failure to institute the essential measures required for good governance and transparency in public procurement would signal the beginning of Malaysia's decline in economic competitiveness.

"The prospect of our country being marginalised in the global economy is too scary to contemplate. But if we persist on doing things ethically wrong, it is a guarantee that we will be marginalised," said Abdul Aziz.