Bank Islam's losses of RM700 million will not escape parliamentary scrutiny if Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) has his way.

He has called for a White Paper to be tabled in the House on Nov 14, when Parliament reconvenes after a two-week festive break for Deepavali and Hari Raya.

This should be accompanied by a report on any criminal and professional proceedings against those responsible for the losses, he said during the debate on the Finance Ministry allocation in Budget 2006, now at the committee stage.

On Monday, Finance Minister II Nor Mohamed Yakcop described Bank Islam losses as disappointing and said action should be taken against those responsible.

He further said the losses do not involve the Islamic banking concept but are allegedly the result of negligence of some officers.

Education and character

Backbenchers too queried the reason for the losses, with Mat Yasir Ikhsan (BN-Sabak Bernam) correlating the education system to the "type of corporate leaders produced".

"Certain quarters claim that our education system is a failure because it produces corporate leaders who are easily influenced or tempted by material gains," he said.

These are people who cannot differentiate between the public and personal interest, he said.

Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) agreed that education plays an important role in shaping leaders and added that strong religious belief contributes to character building as well.

Bung Mohktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) wanted to know if the government will bail out Bank Islam.

Mohamad Aziz (BN- Sri Gading) demanded that those responsible for the losses be severly punished. He also cautioned the word ' Islam' should not be used too freely to keep the image of the religion from being tainted by scandals or losses.

Call for dialogue

At a press conference held in the Parliament lobby, Lim applauded the proposed creation of six parliamentary select committees as a step towards achieving a 'First-world Parliament'.

These committees will work on foreign affairs, parliamentary reform and modernisation, information technology, economy and finance, education and defence.

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, told the House that the Executive would not interfere in setting up parliamentary committees. He said it will be up to MPs to decide if committees are required.

Lim said he has proposed to Backbenchers Club head Shahrir Abdul Samad that a discussion be held to discuss how a parliamentary committee system can be introduced.

"Mohd Nazri seems to be serious this time about leaving to MPs to decide how to introduce the parliamentary committee system," he said, noting that the Malaysian Parliament is one of the few in the Commonwealth that does not have a committee system.