1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) president and executive director Arul Kanda will not attend the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting tomorrow on the agency, confirmed PAC chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

Earlier, sources told Malaysiakini that Arul and former chief executive officer (CEO) Shahrol Halmi, who was also slated to testify tomorrow, have asked for a time extension.

Nur Jazlan said the reason given for their absence was that the duo are currently on a working trip abroad.

They have asked for a postponement of at least 30 days to prepare the information and documents that PAC requested.

However, he said PAC has yet to decide on when to call Arul and Shahrol for its hearing, including whether or not to grant the full 30 days requested.

"That (time period) is what they asked for, but we still want them to come. It is up to us whether or not to accept the 30 days," he told a press conference today after chairing a PAC hearing on the '1Azam' poverty eradication programme.

As soon as possible

He said the decision would also take into account whether the committee’s members would be able attend the meeting on that day but assured that Arul ( photo ) and Shahrol would be called to the hearing again as soon as possible.

According to Nur Jazlan, PAC was informed that Arul and Shahrol would not be attending tomorrow’s hearing last Friday via a letter from the Ministry of Finance.

He explained that the committee previously called for the pair's attendance via the ministry on May 6. It was not unusual for the ministry to inform PAC of their absence as 1MDB comes under their purveiw.

The PAC probe commenced on May 19.

The committee has so far questioned Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah and Economic Planning Unit director-general Rahamat Bivi Yusoff.

Irwan is also a 1MDB advisory board member.

'We have nothing to hide'

Nur Jazlan said while PAC waits to question Arul and Shahrol, it would start writing letters to call in 1MDB's current and former auditors to the hearing in a few days, with hope to hear their testimonies in two to three weeks.

The committee would start with questioning 1MDB's current auditor Deloitte, followed by KPMG as well as Ernst and Young.

"Because of the extensive questions that we have to ask them, we will do this one by one on different dates to give them sufficient time to answer our queries.

"There is so much information out there for us to ask them about," he added.

After the auditors, Nur Jazlan ( photo ) said next on PAC's sights were 1MDB's board members.

Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya Utara MP and PAC member Tony Pua assured that the committee’s investigation was still on track, while Nur Jazlan urged the public not to speculate on PAC’s credibility.

Nur Jazlan stressed the committee was bipartisan with eight BN members and five Pakatan Rakyat members, and had nothing to hide.

Pua, who is from DAP and a vocal critic of 1MDB, said PAC’s meetings were running smoothly whether on 1MDB or other issues.

"There are no major conflicts or confrontations between any PAC member and we act as a single joint committee," he told the same press conference.

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