Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) wants Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Hasan Arifin to reveal why it is not necessary to call Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in for the PAC's 1MDB investigation.

"We want to know the reasons why," C4 founding director Cynthia Gabriel told Malaysiakini .

Najib is the chief of 1MDB's advisory board after all, Cynthia pointed out.

She added that she also does not believe that the RM2.6 billion in Najib's private bank accounts was unrelated to the 1MDB investigation, as Hasan had earlier claimed.

"Even though he (Hasan) said the RM2.6 billion had nothing to do with the 1MDB investigation and that these are two separate things, we beg to differ," Cynthia said.

She cited The Wall Street Journal article, which first revealed that the RM2.6 billion had been deposited into Najib's personal bank accounts.

According to that article, most of the companies and banks that were used to channel the money into his accounts were 1MDB-linked companies, she pointed out.

"1MDB is either directly or indirectly related to the prime minister's RM2.6 billion," Cynthia said.

The MACC had previously declared that the RM2.6 billion was a 'political donation' from the Middle East.

Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing on his part.

'Earn a living'

Cynthia also criticised Hasan's ' cari makan ' comment, calling it 'very irresponsible' and 'a letdown of public interest'.

He cannot dismiss it as a joke, she insisted, and he should claim responsibility for his remark and apologise for it.

As the PAC has deemed it unnecessary to call the prime minister, she said, it was now more important than ever that the auditor-general's report on 1MDB is made public.

"The only way the people can have a certain measure of trust and confidence in the outcome is for the report to be made public," Cynthia said.

Yesterday, Hasan had told reporters that it was not necessary to call Najib as part of the PAC probe into 1MDB.

Pressed further, he quipped, "Jangan lah, saya pun nak cari makan jugak (Please don't, I need to earn a living too)".

The term cari makan in Malay is often used to express the need to earn a living.

However, Hasan later said that the comment was made in jest and that he literally meant 'looking for food'.