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Nur Jazlan: PAC 1MDB probe now on hold
Published:  Jul 28, 2015 7:54 PM
Updated: 12:00 PM

Outgoing Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the parliamentary committee's hearings in August will have to be postponed.

This follows the appointment of four PAC members as either full ministers or deputy ministers in the reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak earlier today.

Nur Jazlan ( photo ), who has been appointed deputy home minister, said he will have to relinquish his position as PAC chairperson as ministers and deputies are not allowed to hold PAC positions.

The other three PAC members affected are BN MPs are Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin and Wilfred Madius Tangau.

"All proceedings that have been arranged for August, including 1MDB hearings, will be halted until the new PAC line-up is announced at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting," he said as reported by The Malaysian Insider.

The next Dewan Rakyat sitting is scheduled for October.

The PAC next week was set to hear testimonies from 1MDB president Arul Kanda, former 1MDB CEOs Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman.

Following this, in mid-August, it was supposed to interview two former 1MDB directors - Mohd Bakke Salleh and Azlan Mohd Zainol - who quit in 2009.

Resist appointments

The cabinet had ordered the PAC to investigate the 1MDB controversy alongside an audit by the National Audit Department.

There have been criticisms that the decision to appoi nt the four BN MPs to cabinet was an attempt to stymie the PAC probe into 1MDB.

In relation to this, Baru Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin ( photo ) urged the four BN MPs in the PAC to refuse their cabinet appointments until the 1MDB probe is completed.

"The appointment of these four PAC members are sudden, raising the question of whether it is a 'coincidence' to frustrate the current investigation or and attempt to co-opt the members of the PAC.

"We urge the four BN PAC members to stand up for the rakyat and to search for the truth first. They can join the cabinet later," Sim pointed out.

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