The glaring difference between Selangor’s controversial Darul Ehsan Investment Group (DEIG) and Prime Minister Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion scandal is the latter was exposed by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

DAP Damansara Utama assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin said on the other hand, issues of concern over DEIG were revealed not in a media expose but by the state government’s select committee itself.

“First of all, I would like to remind the minister that there is a huge difference between DEIG and RM2.6 billion ‘donation’.

“DEIG is a new GLC that has not started operation but the RM2.6 billion has been proven to be ‘donated’ into Najib’s personal account.

“Secondly, the DEIG issue was raised by a select committee with six of the seven committee members are government backbenchers.

“On the other hand, the RM2.6 billion “donation” was exposed by international newspaper WSJ,” said Yeo in a statement today.

Yeo is a member of the Selangor select committee for government agencies, statutory bodies and state subsidiary companies (JP-Abas).

The other members are state assemblypersons Saari Sungib (chairperson, Hulu Kelang), Rodziah Ismail (Batu Tiga), Ng Sze Han (Kinrara), Lau Weng San (Kampung Tunku), Sallehen Mukhyi (Sabak) and Shahrum Mohd Sharif (Dengkil).

On Friday, Urban Wellbeing, Housing, and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who as BN’s strategy director has been fiercely defending Najib’s donation scandal, pointed to DEIG as being a bigger concern than the RM2.6 billion now admitted to have been banked into the Umno chief’s personal accounts before the 13th general election.

'We didn't cover up'

Yeo said Rahman should be more worried about investigations into 1MDB and the donations, which appears to have been stalled.

She said unlike the federal government’s scandal, JP-ABAS moved in to do hearings and tabled the select committee report to the state assembly “before DEIG has even started operation”.

“In sharp contrast, in the Parliament, the public accounts committee (PAC) that is supposed to conduct hearings on 1MDB many years after its formation went into hibernation mode following many of its committee members ‘coincidentally’ promoted to ministerial posts in the recent cabinet reshuffling.

“Unlike the RM2.6 billion donation and 1MDB issues, the backbenchers of Selangor have been vocal on DEIG’s governance.

“There is space for disagreements in Selangor legislature. Perhaps such check-and-balance system is a concept too foreign for the minister who is used to ‘yes-men’ culture?” remarked the DAP assemblyperson.

“All in all, Selangor has a stronger check-and-balance institution to monitor DEIG than Putrajaya has on 1MDB and RM2.6 billion ‘donation’,” she added.

'Go worry about 1MDB'

Yeo has been critical of the Selangor menteri besar’s setting up of a separate investment body incorporated under the Companies Commission.

She said remains critical of the current structure of DEIG and called for a review on the necessity, roles and governance of the state investment firm.

“I will continue to voice out until proper accountability mechanism is institutionalized to avoid a repeat of 1MDB in Selangor,” she said.

She said her colleagues have acted even before DEIG starts operations and suggested the Umno minister exercise the same diligence towards the 1MDB fiasco.

“If the minister is really concerned about the accountability of people’s monies, I suggest him to first focus on pushing for the immediate revival of parliamentary PAC and ensuring that the investigations on the RM2.6 billion ‘donation’ can be done without further intimidation.”