A DAP lawmaker has accused BN of trying to silence him on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue.

However, Tony Pua is unfazed, saying it would only give him a "golden opportunity" to present his case on the scandal.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP was referring to reports that Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan ( right ) and Umno MP for Lenggong Shamsul Anuar Nagariah intend to file a motion to refer him to the Rights and Privileges Committee of Parliament.

 

The BN pair claim that Pua had misled the House when debating during the committee stage of the Budget 2015 allocation for the Finance Ministry.

 

Welcoming the attempt, Pua pointed out the motion would make a "complete mockery" of the House.

"If I had indeed presented wrong facts, then surely the relevant minister or deputy minister replying on the debate could properly 'correct' me and teach me a lesson.  

"Instead, (deputy finance minister) Chua Tee Yong, who was tasked to wind up the committee stage debate for the Finance Ministry, avoided the issue of 1MDB like the plague and refused to answer any of the questions I raised during my speech," he added.

As for his speech, Pua said the facts and figures cited were derived from credible, verifiable and often publicly available sources.

"Hence, I stand by my entire speech. I fully welcome any attempt by BN representatives to file the motion against me alleging that I had misled the House. The motion is essentially a blunt attempt to keep me silent on the 1MDB debt issue.

 

"However, their attempt to muzzle me has only given me greater encouragement and believe that I am on the right track.  

"In fact, if they do indeed put me before the Rights and Privileges Committee, I will have another golden opportunity to present all the relevant evidence on 1MDB's scandals," he added.

Disappointed with auditor-general

Pua also expressed disappointment with Auditor-General Ambrin Buang for stating there was no need to audit 1MDB because it was already being audited by a "big four firm".

"I have the utmost respect for the auditor-general because we have been relying on his department to unearth various shenanigans within the government agencies and departments and they have been doing a very creditable job for the thankless task.

 

"However, I cannot agree at all with Ambrin ( left ) on this issue because the role of an auditing firm to prepare financial statements for the company is very different from the role played by the National Audit Department," he said.

 

"The role of the Auditor-General’s Office is not to 'audit' invoices and receipts to tabulate the balance sheet or the profit-and-loss statement of a company or organisation.  

"The role instead is to make qualitative evaluation of the ‘value’ arising from the company’s activities as well as ensuring that it monitors non-financial compliance," he added.

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