PAC vice-chief wants hearings to be made public

Deputy-chairman Tan Seng Giaw says the Public Accounts Committee hearings must be fair and open to the public, regardless of the issue at hand.

KUALA LUMPUR: Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) deputy-chairman Tan Seng Giaw is pushing for its hearings to be open to the public.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament today, Tan however said that he had not discussed his proposal yet with newly appointed chairman Hasan Arifin.

“The only thing I said to him was that once you’re appointed as a PAC member, you no longer represent any party but you represent the Parliament.

“When you represent Parliament, things should be done in the fairest manner. We do not care what the issue is because the truth has to come out, even on 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad),” Tan said.

Tan also informed reporters that his proposal was nothing new as it had been discussed for years. “But the standing order and the constitution does not have this provision at this moment,” he explained.

He urged all MPs to seriously consider the possibility of open hearings, and noted that Parliaments in other countries made PAC hearings public, so it would not be so unusual if Malaysia did it too.

The PAC meeting yesterday with Hasan was only “informal” but was the first after its previous chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed and three of its members relinquished their posts upon being appointed as minister and deputy ministers respectively in a Cabinet reshuffle on July 28.

Nur Jazlan, who is also the MP for Pulai, was made Deputy Home Minister.