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'PAC should disband itself if press statements can explain everything'
Published:  Feb 10, 2016 9:33 AM
Updated: 3:38 AM

It is only fitting for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to disband itself if all the alleged transgressions that have been raised can be explained through press statements.

PAC member Tony Pua said this in response to PAC chairperson Hasan Arifin's statement that no more witnesses would be called before the PAC as it has enough information to table its report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) corporate governance to Parliament.

However, Pua said he was stunned by Hasan’s argument that the PAC need not call any witnesses at all because “1MDB has already issued dozens of press statements to explain everything”.

As for Hasan’s stand that former 1MDB chief executive Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman’s testimony was not needed as “issues during his tenure had already been answered by 1MDB chairperson Lodin Wok Kamaruddin”, Pua asked PAC to accept Lodin’s testimony “hook, line and sinker”.

Lodin, added Pua, is merely the chairperson of the board, and not the chief executive officer who “executed all the actions of the company”.

It was even worse, he said, for Hasan to argue that the Bank Negara issues concerning 1MDB’s US$1.83 billion of controversial fund transfers “had already been explained in the media and in the attorney-general’s own press statements”.

“Is Hasan ( photo ) asking the PAC members to accept mere ‘press statements’ by 1MDB and other parties as wholesome explanations for the transgressions as alleged by Bank Negara?

“If this argument holds, then the PAC might as well disband itself as all alleged transgressions, including the irregular transfer of a massive US$1.83 billion, can in future be explained merely with a press statement,” Pua said.

The PAC, he pointed out, owes it to itself and the rakyat to, at the very least, understand the very serious allegations made by Bank Negara.

“How do we accept a defendant's case, without even first hearing the claims from the plaintiff?

“(The PAC) chairperson’s unilateral attempt to end the PAC inquiry before exhausting all material witnesses will destroy all perceptions of impartiality and independence of the PAC in the investigation exercise,” added Pua.

The PAC was roped in to look into the debt-ridden sovereign fund after it was reported that it has accumulated massive debts and has been struggling to meet its commitments, with billions in assets, investments, cash and 'units' unaccounted for.

The PAC probe is the last remaining open investigation as the others have been set aside by newly appointed attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali, who has declared the cases to be without a hint of culpability to warrant charging anyone.

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