Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak can't make the auditor-general's interim report on 1MDB public due to a Parliament standing order, said minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
Umno’s urban wellbeing, housing, and local government minister added any information submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) too cannot be made public until it is tabled in Parliament.
"The prime minister doesn't have the power to make the AG's interim report on 1MDB public since it's bound by a parliamentary standing order.
"In fact, information submitted or discussed in the PAC cannot be made public by members of the PAC until they are submitted to Dewan Rakyat.
"This ruling is made so that no member of PAC can discuss an incomplete investigation or enquiry outside PAC, so as not to mislead the public," he said in a series of tweets last night.
Rahman, who is the new BN strategic communications chief, also said only the PAC chairperson can brief the media about ongoing probes, but without making any "unauthorised" conclusions.
The Kota Belud MP was responding to calls by PAC member Tony Pua for Najib to make the auditor-general's interim report on 1MDB public.
Push for Pua to go
Pua said this would address allegations made by Sarawak Report against Najib that include claims that RM2.6 billion had been deposited into the premier's personal accounts.
He said it would also put to rest allegations that Sarawak Report , and opposition lawmakers had tampered documents related to 1MDB.
Rahman, who is a former PAC member, replied by simply saying that Pua was wrong.
He then took a jab at the DAP lawmaker, whom certain BN leaders are pressuring to quit the PAC, following allegations that he was involved in the document tampering.
"Since PAC members were appointed through voting by all MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, I suppose MPs can also replace anyone they feel unsuitable through votes," Rahman said.
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