Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Tony Pua is puzzled why BN leaders have "no confidence" in it despite having eight BN representatives to debunk his alleged "frivolous claims" on 1MDB.

Pua's perplexed that more BN leaders have called for him to recuse himself from the PAC.

"I am surprised that these BN ministers and leaders have absolutely no confidence that the eight BN representatives in the PAC, will not be able to perform their duties to contain or debunk any allegedly unfounded and frivolous claims I might raise in the meetings," said Pua in a statement today.

"Therefore, let me re-emphasise the fact that there is absolutely no conflict of interest for me to sit as a member of the PAC over the 1MDB scandal."

Umno-linked lawyer, Mohammad Shafee Abdullah ( photo ) was the first to call for Pua to desist being involved with investigations on 1MDB. 

BN backbenchers chairman, Shahrir Samad, subsequently made known his support for Shafee's suggestion.

'Pua shamed PAC'

The latest to make the call was Communications and Multimedia Minister, Ahmad Shabery Cheek, whom Pua said, went on a "rant" against his position in the PAC.

In rationalising that Pua should leave the PAC, the minister had said that Pua not only shamed the PAC, but also the parliamentary system itself and was "no longer qualified" to sit in the PAC. 

"He makes biased statements, he should be ashamed, his party should be ashamed, his supporters and those associated with him should also feel ashamed," Shabery reportedly said.

To this, Pua questioned whether Shabery ( photo ) was "so afraid" that the eight BN reps in the PAC could not tackle one opposition member in the committee.

"I am very amused because I cannot for the life of me understand why I should be in anyway ashamed of the statements which I have made with regards to the monstrous RM42 billion 1MDB scandal.  

"I am also clueless as to why my party, my supporters and 'those associated' with me should feel ashamed about me bringing to light the misappropriations and mismanagement in 1MDB," he said.

'Public would be disgusted'

Pua pointed out that the Malaysian public would be disgusted, and the credibility of the PAC severely jeopardised if he were to be forcefully removed from the PAC.

"Instead, those who should be ashamed are the ministers and BN leaders wholeheartedly and blindly supporting the bailout of 1MDB taking place at the expense of taxpayers’ funds."

Pua also believes that BN ministers and leaders were "obviously afraid" of being incriminated in the panel’s investigation on 1MDB, citing how the cabinet had approved another “letter of support” to EXIM Bank to extend a US$150 million loan to 1MDB in March this year for a "questionable" land purchase in Pulau Indah.  

"If the BN leaders are so concerned about shaming the investigation process, they should be asking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to take leave as finance and prime minister as he is directly implicated in the RM42 billion scandal by the simple virtue of the fact that every single major transaction undertaken by 1MDB carries his 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?" asked Pua. 

Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia ( photo ) said Pua must be cautious in assisting the PAC in its investigations on 1MDB.

Pandikar was quoted as saying so by the BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) portal on the matter yesterday.

"With regard to Pua, I think he needs to be cautious in his role as a member of the PAC which is currently investigating 1MDB," said Pandikar.

"He should be focused in assisting the PAC to obtain relevant information for the PAC statement to be presented in Parliament for appropriate action, not more than that," he said.