(May 26): A Barisan Nasional federal lawmaker has also slammed two senior executives of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) for missing a parliamentary inquiry into the troubled company, saying their absence "does not make sense".

Long-serving MP Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) said issues involving the state investment firm were of public interest.

“It does not make sense. They are the people responsible and they should tell people what is going on in 1MDB," he said outside the Parliament lobby today.

Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) confirmed yesterday that it was postponing today's scheduled inquiry into the debt-laden firm as president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy as well as former CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi were unavailable.

Sharol, who is still on 1MDB's board of directors, was the company's first CEO from February 2009 to March 2013, while Arul Kanda was appointed in January this year.

Both are key witnesses in the PAC's inquiry into Finance Ministry-owned 1MDB, which has incurred RM42 billion in debts in just six years of operations.

Bung Moktar, a four-term MP, said the PAC had summoned the duo to attend the inquiry as soon as possible.

The absence of the two senior executives was conveyed to the PAC in a letter from the Finance Ministry last Friday, and sparked criticism from opposition party DAP, former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as well as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's brother, top banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, the CIMB chairman who has in the past called for more accountability from 1MDB.

Najib is also finance minister and heads 1MDB's advisory board.

Today, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang asked if Najib had agreed to Arul Kanda and Shahrol missing the scheduled hearing, and whether the two had valid reasons for their absence.

Nazir, meanwhile, called their absence "unacceptable" in an Instagram post.

"Your company has triggered a national crisis and you can be too busy to face Parliament?" he asked.

However, Najib said today that the two top executives would appear to testify before the PAC.

"1MDB officials will appear before PAC, will not run away," he was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.

Criticism has been mounting over the Finance Ministry wholly-owned investment vehicle, established in 2009, which has chalked up debts of up to RM42 billion, backed by Putrajaya.

The auditor-general is currently looking through 1MDB's books, with a preliminary report expected to be submitted to Parliament in June, while Parliament's PAC started its investigation into the company last Tuesday. – The Malaysian Insider