The demand for Ronald Kiandee to resign as the Chairman of Public Account Committee (PAC) continued this week with the mass resignation of the BN and PAS members of the PAC on Monday. On the same day, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng claimed that most backbenchers want Kiandee out. On Tuesday, former president of Bar Council Ambiga Sreenevasan said Kiandee should step down or be removed with immediate effect.
The PH manifesto promised that “The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee will be reserved for an opposition member of parliament” as part of Promise 16. Lim Lip Eng said PH must fulfil the manifesto promise and there were no two ways about it. Ambiga also said there should be no compromise.
Last week, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir had already agreed to find a good candidate as a replacement for Kiandee. A candidate that had been proposed by the opposition was Wanita UMNO chief and Parit Sulong MP Noraini Ahmad. She was also a member of the PAC.
While the nomination of Noraini appeared reasonable, Dewan Rakyat Deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming believed the cabinet should only replace Kiandee at an appropriate time.
The PAC is currently hearing many cases involving millions and billions of ringgits blatantly mis-used or siphoned off by the previous government. The role of the PAC is to provide check and balance to the “government of the day” responsible for the cases being heard. PH was the “opposition of the day” when these wrongdoings were committed. It may be more appropriate for BN to take over the chairmanship only after the cases from the previous administration are cleared or two years after any change of government. The chairman and the committee members should also be vetted by the MACC and categorically declare any conflict of interests, whether they ever received any payments or gratuities from the parties investigated.
Secondly, chairman and opposition members of the PAC should be required to declare their assets and income to the MACC’s Asset Declaration portal and to be free from corruption. As the PH MPs and senior government officers are already required to declare their assets, the opposition MPs should declare their income and assets before they are allowed to be Chairman or members of the PAC. Nothing can be more ridiculous than to have Najib, Zahid, Ku Nan, Abdul Azeez and Isa Samad, who are facing charges, to be chairman or members of the PAC checking on government expenses.
Thirdly, and most importantly, BN and PAS should also promise that the chairmanship of the PAC be reserved for the opposition should they win back the power. This amendment to be written into the Parliament’s Standing Order to make this bi-partisan agreement and sacrosanct. We cannot have an opposition that practices double standard depends on whether they are the government again.
In summary, PH will fulfil the the manifesto promise to reserve the chairmanship for an opposition member of Parliament. This may be done once the mega scandals cases involving the previous government are heard. The opposition members of PAC should themselves be clean and free from corruption themselves, and must agree to uphold the same practice when they are in power by supporting its amendment into the parliament’s Standing Order.