(Oct 29): A senior Umno minister says DAP's Tony Pua should quit Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) if he wants a live TV debate with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) president Arul Kanda Kandasamy as this will prevent conflict of interest.

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said PAC was in the midst of probing the state-owned investment firm and the Petaling Jaya Utara federal lawmaker could not be part of the debate if he was still on the bipartisan panel.

"He must be a neutral person, so he must resign from PAC so he can go debate with Arul Kanda," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

"He must get out of PAC and debate. PAC is investigating so how can you debate when you're still a member?" he said.

Arul Kanda today accepted Pua's challenge to a live TV interview on the debt-ridden investor, but said the DAP lawmaker must first resign as PAC member to preserve the integrity of the committee and prevent conflict of interest.

Pua had earlier challenged Arul Kanda to a live interview to clear the air about the state-owned firm as the 1MDB president had failed to respond to allegations against it.

Pua added that Malaysians were no closer to the truth concerning the scandals as the 1MDB head continued his public relations campaign with recycled answers. – The Malaysian Insider