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Pua: Shafee should tell PM to take leave instead
Published:  Jun 26, 2015 9:39 AM
Updated: Jun 27, 2015 6:41 AM

Senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah should ask Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to take leave to avoid a conflict of interest over the investigation into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

 

Public Accounts Committee member Tony Pua said this is because Najib is directly implicated in the RM42 billion scandal, as the 1MDB rules require every single major transaction it undertakes to carry the prime minister's explicit “written approval”.

 

"How can Najib be allowed to direct the manner, timing and mechanism of investigations over such a monstrous scandal where he is also a prime suspect?

 

"Shouldn’t Muhammad Shafee ( right ), a lawyer who claims to uphold natural justice, balk at such a massive conflict of interest?" Pua asked in a statement today.

 

Pua was responding to the Umno-linked lawyer’s call for his resignation from the PAC, claiming that Pua was too critical of 1MDB and hence could not be fair.

 

Shafee claimed Pua's withdrawal would enhance public confidence in the inquiry to be conducted fairly, arguing that Pua had issued numerous statements that can affect investigations into 1MDB.

 

‘Ploy to rid me’

 

Pua said Shafee's statement was likely a concerted, sinister attempt to oust him from the PAC hearing into the 1MDB scandal, so that 1MDB's top management could avoid much feared or anticipated intense grilling from him.

 

Shafee's attempt to recuse him was highly laughable and nonsensical, the Petaling Jaya Utara MP added.

 

"How does issuing statements and carrying out my daily responsibility as an elected representative of Malaysians in any way jeopardise the investigations into 1MDB? " he asked.

 

He added there are also BN MPs in the committee who would not miss the opportunity to deride him at committee meetings, should he make completely unfounded statements.

 

1MDB, Pua said, is also free to debunk his allegations during the hearing.

 

"Worse, the entire proceedings are recorded verbatim and will be published in the report tabled in Parliament and made available to the public. 

 

"So, if 1MDB is able to make a complete fool of me, my foolishness will be recorded permanently in history," he said.

 

‘Shahrir’s argument fallacious’

 

Following Shafee's statement, PAC chairperson Nur Jazlan Mohamad warned the prominent Umno lawyer not to meddle in committee's business.

 

However, BN Backbenchers Club chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad ( left ) took the opportunity to urge Nur Jazlan to consider Shafee's remarks and to drop Pua from the investigation team. 

 

Shahrir argued that since the DAP leader knew a lot about 1MDB, he should be made a witness instead of being part of the team investigating 1MDB.

 

Pua ridiculed the claim, saying, "In fact, Shahrir Samad has sullied whatever credibility he has left with such a fallacious argument.” 

 

"If his claim that I know ‘a lot about 1MDB’ is indeed true, all the more I should be part of the investigation team.

 

"Why should I be a witness since I’m going to be questioning transactions carried out by 1MDB?

 

“I can share whatever knowledge I have with committee members during the proceedings," he asked.

 

"The PAC comprises eight BN MPs and five opposition MPs. Surely, if I step out of line, the eight BN MPs will pounce on me and give no quarter," Pua argued.

 

Furthermore, the PAC or its members are not judge and jury. They have no power to mete out any form of punishment, he added.

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