Be another Nur Jazlan or quit, Hasan told

Kit Siang laments delayed PAC report, and Hasan's lack of interest in calling up Jho Low

KUALA LUMPUR: Hasan Arifin has been urged to step down as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee for its “total lack of urgency and priority” towards completing its investigations into the government investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

The DAP’s parliamentary leader, Lim Kit Siang, said in a statement today that Hasan was a “far cry and a pale shadow” of Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who was chairman until he was made a deputy minister in a Cabinet reshuffle last year.

Lim said Hasan should resign if he was not prepared to be a “second Nur Jazlan” as a competent chairman of the Public Accounts Committee so that a new person could be appointed to carry out Nur Jazlan’s unfinished task

He lamented that the committee’s report on 1MDB “might not even see the light of day this year” following an announcement by Hasan earlier this week that the committee would not be able to submit its report even for the March meeting of Parliament.

He accused Hasan of showing no interest in summoning businessman Jho Low (Low Taek Jho) to testify, although Nur Jazlan had said in July last year that Low would be called on Sept. 8, and also of having no interest in summoning Najib, although Nur Jazlan had said that he would summon the prime minister as a witness “if necessary”.

Lim said Nur Jazlan had raised the committee’s credibility, earned the public’s respect and raised hopes of a full no-holds-barred investigation. He accused Najib of sabotaging and derailing the investigations by appointing Nur Jazlan as deputy home minister and taking three other committee members into the executive branch.

“There can be no doubt that it would be necessary to summon Najib as Najib is the only person, apart from Jho Low, who knows the ins-and-outs of the RM2.6 billion ‘donation’ and 1MDB affairs in the past six years,” Lim said.