Beluran MP Ronald Kiandee looks set to make history as the nation's first opposition MP to helm Parliament's powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

According to the Order Paper for Monday's Dewan Rakyat proceeding, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would table the motion on Monday.

Kiandee is a five-term Umno lawmaker from Sabah and spent the last two terms serving as deputy speaker of the Dewan Rakyat. 

The Order Paper also named first-term Ipoh Timur MP Wong Kah Woh as Kiandee's deputy.

This development suggests that attempts by the Pakatan Harapan administration to give the position to Bagan Datuk MP and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had been unsuccessful.

As of this evening, deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker Nga Kor Ming said Zahid was proposed as the PAC head because the Harapan administration had hoped to emulate the Australian and British parliamentary practice of appointing the parliamentary opposition leader as the PAC head.

"This is the first step towards parliamentary reform. We have delivered on our promise (to let the opposition head PAC)," said Nga.

Previous administrations had appointed backbenchers to head the PAC, which often led to criticisms that the committee could not function effectively as a check on the executive.

Nga said that he hoped Zahid, if he accepts the post, would investigate major scandals including the 1MDB affair and Khazanah Nasional's losses resulting from its investment in a lingerie company, among others.

In the event that Zahid refuses this position, Nga said Harapan would still reserve it for an opposition lawmaker.

"Only if no opposition MP takes it, then we might have to appoint someone from the backbench," he said.

The PAC is a powerful committee which can investigate ministries, GLCs and government agencies.