Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Hasan Arifin should resign from his post for his ‘ cari makan ’ gaffe, failing which he should be referred to the parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee.
This is to determine whether the Rompin MP’s remark has brought shame, disrepute and dishonour to the PAC and Parliament as it is a “gross breach of parliamentary privilege”, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said.
Commenting further on the matter, Lim said Hasan had added insult to injury by blaming the media for reporting what he had actually said.
“Hasan messed up a very bad situation with his subsequent clarification, attempting to do the impossible; to deny and to admit with qualification, one at the same time, which is an impossible job of trying to square the circle,” said Lim in his speech at the launch of Parti Amanah Negara Gelang patah branch in Kangkar Baru, Johor last night.
Hasan had made the quip after continued grilling on why the PAC should not question Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in its 1MDB probe.
He made the remark 14 minutes into his 18-minute-long press conference, while the media was only invited to lunch at the beginning and towards the tail-end of the press conference.
Hasan also did not state that his remark was off the record.
Dishonesty no place in PAC
In a statement later, Hasan tried to explain , saying he literally meant he was “looking for food” when he uttered, “ Saya pun cari makan (I too need to make a living).”
Furthermore, he said, the remark was off the record as it was made in jest with the intention of being friendly with the media for whom he had provided lunch.
However, Lim (
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) said Hasan should have acted with honesty and honour as expected of a PAC chairperson by admitting his mistake, instead of trying to “weasel out of a bad situation of his own creation”.
“As the PAC would want all witnesses appearing before it to ‘speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’, how can PAC have a chairperson who has the reputation of being the very opposite of such high standards of honesty and integrity?” asked Lim.
“The last thing MPs and Malaysians want from their PAC members is for them to have the ‘ cari makan ’ mentality and mindset in discharging their duties."
Lim also called on Hasan to explain his rationale for not calling Najib to appear before the PAC in its investigations into the 1MDB scandal.
Pointing our how Najib was the final approving authority for all 1MDB deals, any PAC investigation into 1MDB, without calling Najib to testify, would therefore be a waste of time.
“Worse, PAC members would be guilty of gross dereliction of duty in failing to summon Najib as the person who knows the most about the 1MDB to testify in the PAC investigations,” said Lim.
At the height of a now-disbanded special task force investigation and a simultaneous PAC inquiry into the 1MDB scandal, Najib promoted four of the BN MPs in PAC into the government, effectively putting the brakes on the inquiry. The chairperson then, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, was made deputy home minister.
With Hasan’s appointment, the PAC is set to resume its inquiry into 1MDB.
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