Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua is calling for Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearings to be made public, as among the reforms needed to strengthen the committee.

He pointed out that about three-quarters of the PACs of Commonwealth countries hold their hearing in public, including almost all of the African representatives, in a workshop organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for PACs in Malta over the past week.

Pua, in a statement today, said that while exceptions can be made where sensitive matters affecting national security are discussed, as a rule the hearings should be conducted in public and in full presence of the media.

He said this would make PAC members even more diligent in carrying out their duties due to the public scrutiny.

“For example, why should the hearings relating to the 1BestariNet, the National Feedlot Corporation, the KLIA2 project or the on-going 1MDB inquiry not be made public as they do not touch on any national security matter?

“They could of course turn out to be highly embarrassing and detrimental to the reputation of particular ministers, but that should not be the concern of the PAC.”

Pua, who is also among the PAC’s 13 members, urged the Parliament’s house committee to adopt this practice when it meets tomorrow.

“This is to ensure that we become a truly world class Parliament, and not a rubber stamp, where Malaysian democratic rights are oppressed by the Executive which tramples on the sanctity and role of Parliament,” he said.

The house committee, which sets the house rules in Parliament, is chaired by the Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia ( photo ), who himself is pushing for several other reforms in Parliament.

Currently, public hearings of the PAC are prevented by Standing Order 85, which prevents documents and testimonies presented at any parliamentary committee from being made public by the committee members until it is tabled in Parliament.

Meanwhile, Pua also urged that PACs should be chaired by a member of the opposition, instead of the current practice of appointing a government MP to the post.

He said that two-thirds of Commonwealth countries have opposition members holding that post – some practice this by convention, others impose the rule by law or in the standing orders.

“An elected representative of the governing party will naturally and inevitably be saddled with the conflict of interest of not wanting to make the ruling coalition look bad. 

“On the other hand, the PAC chaired by an opposition member will offer the necessary check and balance for the committee where the majority remains with the ruling party,” he said.