AFTER MACC, NAJIB CAMP NOW TRIES TO INFLUENCE PAC PROBE: Panel that chooses PAC members to be revamped

The Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) probe into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has hit another stumbling block, with an Umno minister saying that new members can only be nominated into the panel after its nomination committee is reshuffled.

Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said this was because Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, both now dropped from the Cabinet, are still in the committee in charge of nominating new PAC members.

"The members of the PAC have to be nominated by the nomination committee. But the nomination committee also has its problems, given the recent developments," Rahman told a press conference after the prelaunch of the Malaysia Day Ride 2014 in PWTC.

"MIC's Palanivel is in the nomination committee, so what you do about that? Is it him or Subramaniam. We have Muhyiddin, who used to be the chief whip of Parliament in his capacity as the deputy prime minister.

"The nomination committee must be reshuffled based on the current facts and factors. If we don't, there is no way we can nominate the PAC members."

Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan

The PAC's investigation into 1MDB was suspended after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appointed four of the panel's members, including its chairman, into the Cabinet last month.

The new PAC members can only be appointed once Parliament reconvenes in October, but DAP has urged Najib to hold a special meeting in Parliament before August 31 to select a new chairman.

The PAC was to review an inspection of 1MDB's accounts by the Auditor-General, which had submitted an interim report on its findings before the Cabinet reshuffle.

Its full report, however, would only be given to the PAC before the end of the year.

The PAC was also to have questioned current and former top executives of 1MDB earlier this month, but that did not materialise because of the changes to the committee.

Rahman said today that the investigation into 1MDB had been "spun out of perspective" due to the "power play" involved.

"It could be resolved very quickly, but when there is power play and shadow play involved, it's more difficult to get to the truth," he said, but did not elaborate. – TMI