The Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency or Selcat is a six-member panel consisting of state assemblymen, formed when Pakatan Rakyat came to power after the 2008 election.
The purpose is to hold public hearings to investigate state issues and resolve disputes pertaining to transparency or the lack of it. A fact-finding session will be conducted, with the matter escalated to the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission if there is proven wrong doing.
Thus, Selcat is also a platform for those who have been accused of misdeeds they are not guilty of and a platform on which they can publicly prove their innocence. Selcat is not just to pinpoint the guilty.
The first historic Selcat hearing was conducted from March 23rd to 31st in 2009 and among the issues that were investigated and heard was the conduct of BALKIS or the Wives of Selangor Assemblymen and MPs Welfare and Charity Organisation. Balkis, under the wife of former Mentri Besar Khir Toyo, had been accused of mismanagement of funds.
Notable witnesses summoned to appear before the committee were Khir himself, his wife as the BALKIS president, and other state officials. The entire proceedings was broadcast live online. UMNO immediately accused Pakatan Rakyat of witch hunting, which PKR Mentri Besar disproved when Selcat went on to conduct other hearings as well.
It is interesting to note that both Khir Toyo and his wife were so reluctant to attend the hearings, it prompted comment that they were afraid to be found 'guilty as charged'.
Even Pakatan lawmakers were not spared
Selcat went on to show it was not selective when in February 2010, DAP assemblyman for Pandamaran Ronnie Liu was questioned on his style of disbursing constituency allocations. Liu was one of three Selangor Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers hauled up by Selcat to explain spending discrepancies in their constituency allocations. The other two were Sri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei.
The next hearing to be conducted by Selcat will be to hear the case of Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB), a subsidiary of the Selangor state government accused of being involved in sand theft. Employees were purportedly given the axe or made to leave KSSB over a five-month period beginning August last year to cover up the issue, but some have lodged police reports over alleged intimidation by the KSSB management, while others pursued legal action through the industrial court.
Two PKR state assembly men Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafei and Batu Caves assemblyman Amiruddin Shari have been accused of taking bribes from sand-mining contractors by Noh Omar, the Selangor deputy chief as reported in the media.
Selcat will also investigate Yayasan Selangor after obtaining its internal audit report on the appointment of the foundation's general manager as well as review several other administrative matters. Two independent companies awarded a RM180mil loan by the Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS), for the purchase of machinery as raised in the Auditor General's report will also be come under scrutiny. The public hearing for both cases is scheduled to be held from March 5 to March 7.
These are the best examples of a good and responsible government to 'walk the talk' on being transparent and against corruption and any other form of graft. Unlike UMNO-BN, which would immediately sweep everything under the carpet, or justify and even point-black deny any wrong doing before making any investigations.
Compare with UMNO's cover-up of the NFC debacle and the Jamil Baharom zakat scandal
The RM250mil Shahrizat Jalil- NFC financial debacle is the classic example of how UMNO upholds corruption and mismanagement for political reasons. Even until now, nobody has been taken to task except for one Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail, who is clearly being made the scapegoat for the Shahrizat family.
Another good example of UMNO not taking any action despite the report by the Auditor General Ambrin Buang on the governmental over spending and not following the stated procurement procedures. Till now, there has not even been a single inquiry made to follow up on the Auditor General's report.
Very ironic is the complete absence of any action against Minister in the PM's Department for Islamic issues, Jamil Khir Baharom, who was accused of using the zakat or tithe money for his legal fees. In fact, the UMNO way to clear Jamil was to have the “cari makan” Mufti of Wilayah Persekutuan KL, Wan Junaidi, clear Jamil by declaring such usage of zakat money was 'halal'. If this is so, then UMNO is definitely 'haram'.
Indelible ink, still trying to cheat with 2 colours!
UMNO can say that they have set up several Parliament Select Committees to look into important matters. We need not search too far back that when the opposition asked the UMNO-BN government to form a Royal Commission to revamp the Election Commission, nothing was done. Instead a Parliament Select Committee was set up to look into the 8 electoral demands by BERSIH.
These are just whitewashing efforts appease the people. It is telling that after some 'high-profile' discussion, the PSC in the end decided only to fulfill just one of the 8 demands - which is to use indelible ink in the coming 13th general election.
Nonetheless, UMNO has not given up on trying to cheat at GE-13. It now insists on using two different colours. If there is no hidden agenda that will benefit UMNO-BN, why is there a need to use two colours?
If UMNO is really good as it claims, then be humble and follow in the lead of the Pakatan Selangor government and set up a similar Selcat body to really probe corruption claims. Start first and foremost with a Royal Commission to investigate the Shahrizat-NFC debacle and prove to the people that all the revelations made by PKR are not true. Otherwise, arrest the guilty even if they may be members of the Shahrizat family.
Only then can UMNO and BN reclaim the moral high ground!
Malaysia Chronicle
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