Putrajaya should have delayed the appointment of Madinah Mohamad as auditor-general until the audit on the Education Ministry has been given a clean bill of health, a former top civil servant said today.
The civil servant, who spoke to Malaysiakini on condition of anonymity, pointed out that Madinah was previously the Education Ministry secretary-general, which meant that she was in charge of the ministry's finances.
The Education Ministry has the biggest budget among all the ministries.
"What are the chances of her taking actions (as auditor-general) if things are found wanting during her watch (at the ministry).
"It would be an awkward situation if the Public Accounts Committee has to call the AG (auditor-general) for questioning (if something was wrong with the Education Ministry accounts)," the retired senior civil servant said.
For this reason, he said, the proper practice in the appointment of the auditor-general is that the ministry where the candidate came from must have a clean track record in its audit.
"Only then should Madinah have been appointed... This should be the strongest argument against her appointment," he said.
He pointed out that former auditor-general Ambrin Buang was in the exact same predicament - he too was appointed auditor-general while he was secretary-general of the Education Ministry.
"If we made a mistake once, we should not repeat it, or else it may become right," he said.
Academic qualifications not an issue
On Madinah's academic qualifications and political affiliations, the former top civil servant said that these should not be a major issue.
Madinah has a Bachelor's degree in political science and PhD in human resources. Ambrin held a Bachelor's degree in economics and a Master's degree in international trade.
"I am aware of the comments against Madinah based on her academic qualifications - that she is not an accountant - and that she is a member of Umno. Both facts are quite irrelevant.
"Any person with sufficient experience, and is a quick and willing learner, can perform the job.
"I know of a former Australian auditor-general who was a top scientist who had worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (in the US)," he added.
He said the most important requirement was that the auditor-general must have had a clean track record in managing a ministry's budget.
Upon Madinah's appointment last month, critics have questioned her lack of credentials in finance and accounting, as well as her political affiliations.
Madinah is a member of the Kepong Umno division, which is led by her husband Rizuan Abdul Hamid.
Rizuan had told the Umno general assembly in 2015 that he was willing to "die" for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
It was also established that Najib once attempted to intervene when Rizuan was about to be declared a bankrupt.-Mkini
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